Emilia Romagna GP Practice 1: Piastri Fastest, Verstappen Struggles, Bortoleto Crashes

In a competitive opening practice session for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, McLaren`s Oscar Piastri set the fastest time, narrowly beating his teammate Lando Norris. The session at the historic Imola circuit marked the start of the European leg of the season, with many top teams introducing significant car upgrade packages.

McLaren showed strong early pace, with Piastri recording a lap of 1:16.545, just 0.032 seconds ahead of Norris. The top five drivers were remarkably close, separated by only 0.096 seconds, and included Carlos Sainz for Williams, George Russell for Mercedes, and Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton reported braking difficulties in his Ferrari and briefly went off-track. His teammate Charles Leclerc, who missed Thursday`s media events due to illness, finished the session in 12th place.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was notably off the pace, finishing seventh, 0.3 seconds behind Piastri. He expressed frustration over the Red Bull team radio regarding the handling of his upgraded car`s rear end, even hitting his steering wheel at one point. Red Bull`s updates for the weekend include revisions to the engine cover and sidepods, noted for their resemblance to McLaren`s design. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner mentioned that the track was “evolving pretty quickly” and their team “didn’t get clean laps or a proper lap in on those second set of tyres.”

Following a challenging period off-track with team and driver changes, Alpine had a more positive start to the weekend. Pierre Gasly secured the sixth fastest time. Debutant Franco Colapinto was 17th, 0.7 seconds behind Gasly, working to build confidence in the car.

The session concluded under a red flag with two minutes remaining after Sauber`s Gabriel Bortoleto crashed into the barriers exiting the Rivazza corners. This was an unfortunate end for Sauber, who otherwise had an encouraging session with Bortoleto in ninth and Nico Hulkenberg in tenth.

Team Upgrades Overview

Teams arrived at Imola with substantial updates as the development race intensifies.

Ferrari, at their home event, introduced what have been described as “small but hopefully significant” changes to the rear of the SF-25, including a new rear wing aimed at increasing downforce and modifications to the car`s rear corners.

Red Bull`s RB21 features a reprofiled engine cover and air inlet, alongside rear suspension and corner revisions. McLaren`s leading car received updates to its rear and a new front suspension. Mercedes focused their Imola changes primarily on the front of their car, with suspension and wing alterations.

Aston Martin, seeking improved performance, brought the largest upgrade package. Lance Stroll tested multiple new components, while Fernando Alonso ran the previous specification car for comparison. Williams and Sauber were the only teams not introducing new parts this weekend, with Williams already looking ahead to the 2026 regulations.

Emilia Romagna GP Practice One Results