Emilia Romagna GP Practice 1: Piastri Leads, Verstappen Frustrated

McLaren`s Oscar Piastri narrowly topped the opening practice session at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, finishing just ahead of his teammate Lando Norris. The session saw major teams unveil significant car upgrades as the Formula 1 season returned to Europe.

With Imola marking the first European race and the start of a busy triple-header, many teams used this weekend to introduce their first substantial upgrade packages of 2025.

McLaren demonstrated strong form early on, with Piastri setting the pace at 1:16.545, just 0.032 seconds quicker than Norris. The top five drivers, however, were incredibly close, separated by less than a tenth of a second and representing three different teams.

Williams` Carlos Sainz, Mercedes` George Russell, and Ferrari`s Lewis Hamilton were all within 0.1 seconds of Piastri`s benchmark time, highlighting the tight competition.

Earlier in the session, Lewis Hamilton reported issues with the brakes on his Ferrari and went off track at the Variante Alta chicane. His teammate Charles Leclerc, who had missed media duties the previous day due to illness, finished the session in 12th place.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull was noticeably off the pace, finishing seventh, 0.3 seconds behind Piastri. He expressed frustration over the team radio about the stability of his upgraded car`s rear end and was seen hitting his steering wheel late in the session.

Red Bull`s upgrades for Imola included revisions to the engine cover and sidepods, noted for their similarity in design to McLaren`s car, along with changes to the rear suspension and corners. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner commented that while the track was evolving quickly, they didn`t manage to get clean, representative laps on their second set of tires.

Following a turbulent week that saw personnel changes, Alpine had a more stable start on track, with Pierre Gasly finishing sixth fastest. Their new driver, Franco Colapinto, was 17th and will be looking to close the gap to his teammate as he gains experience with the car.

The session concluded slightly early due to a red flag caused by Sauber`s Gabriel Bortoleto, who crashed into the barriers exiting the Rivazza corners.

Despite the crash, it was an otherwise encouraging session for Sauber, with Bortoleto finishing ninth and Nico Hulkenberg tenth, placing both cars within the top ten.

Key Car Upgrades Introduced at Imola

As the development race heats up, several teams brought significant updates:

Ferrari: For their home race, Ferrari introduced changes to the rear of their SF-25, including a new rear wing designed for increased downforce and revisions to the rear corners. These were described as potentially significant changes.

Red Bull: Along with the previously mentioned McLaren-style engine cover and sidepods, Red Bull also updated their rear suspension and rear corners on the RB21.

McLaren: The fastest team in the session also brought upgrades, focusing on the rear of their car and introducing a new front suspension.

Mercedes: Mercedes focused their Imola upgrades on the front of their car, altering the suspension and wing elements.

Aston Martin: Aston Martin unveiled the most extensive upgrade package. Lance Stroll ran with seven new items on his car, while Fernando Alonso used the session to compare performance against the previous specification.

Williams and Sauber were the only teams not to introduce new parts this weekend. Williams has stated they are already shifting focus towards the major rule changes coming in 2026.

Emilia Romagna GP Practice One Timesheet