FP2: Piastri leads dominant one-two for McLaren in second Imola practice
Having led the way in the opening practice at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, McLaren continued to set the pace in the second one-hour session, with Oscar Piastri having fractionally beaten his team-mate Lando Norris. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo is reporting from the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
McLaren practically continued where it left off in the opening practice by dominating the second one-hour session at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Using Pirelli’s softest compund on his best hot lap, Oscar Piastri set the benchmark of a 1m 15.293s to head his team-mate Lando Norris in the second practice at Imola.
Confirming Alpine’s strong pace this weekend, Pierre Gasly impressed again by finishing third from George Russell and Max Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc missed yesterday’s media day as felt unwell. The Monegasque had a quiet opening day on Ferrari’s home turf, ending the second practice sixth quickest.
Leclerc and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton complained about braking problems with their SF-25 throughout the session. The seven-time world champion ended up 11 fastest, albeit he was just under two tenths of a second slower than Leclerc.
His replacement at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli, also had a close call with Red Bull’s Tsunoda on the run down the hill to Rivazza 1, claiming over the radio "that was super dangerous from the Red Bull".
The Bologna-born driver was left in 18th, but there is much more to expect from him in the remainder of the weekend based on his W16’s performance.
Oliver Bearman endured a difficult weekend last time out in Miami, but he looked more comfortable in his Haas. The Briton finished 12th from the returning Franco Colapinto, who impressed on his first practice day with Alpine.
Fernando Alonso took was 14th for Aston Martin, followed by Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto, who brought out the red flag in the opening practice after crashing out in Rivazza 2.
Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll took 17th, finishing ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Antonelli and Haas driver Esteban Ocon.
