Oscar Piastri beat Mclaren team-mate Lando Norris by 0.032s to claim top spot in the opening practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, which was red flagged for a late crash involving Kick Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto.

It was Norris who led the way in the opening minutes of the hour-long session, with the Briton posting a lap of 1:17.125 on the Soft tyres, which for the first time this year has been allocated to the new C6 compound, the softest in tyre supplier Pirelli’s range. 

Mercedes' George Russell then moved to the top with a 1:16.599 but Piastri was quicker and shortly after the halfway mark the Australian stopped the clock at 1:16.545s top return to top of the leaderboard.

Norris, however, went for another run. His first flying lap left him a little under two tenths shy of his team-mate and his second run, though quicker, was still fractionally off the pace of his team-mate and at the end of the session his best lap of 1m16.577s, left him a slim 0.032 back off Piastri. 

Third place in the session went to Carlos Sainz who impressed in the Williams F47, which unlike the bulk of its rivals has not been upgraded for the first European round of the season. The Spaniard posted a good lap of 1:16.597 to finish just five hundredths of a second off the pace. 

George Russell was left as the highest placed Mercedes in P4, just 0.002 off Sainz. The Briton’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli, competing at his home circuit in F1 for the first time ended the session in 12th place. 

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, finished as best-placed Ferrari, in firth, though the Briton complained that was having difficulty getting his SF-25 stopped at certain points during the session. The Ferrari is boasting revised rear suspension elements in Imola. 

There are upgrades too on Alpine’s A525 and with a reprofiled front wing and new engine cover on board, Pierre Gasly took P6 just 0.151s behind the leader.

Max Verstappen finished seventh but despite rear suspension and engine cover upgrades the Dutchman was unhappy with the balance of his RB21 telling his team that he could not “rely on the rear” of the car.

Eighth place in the session went to Alex Albon in the other Williams, while Sauber duo Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10.

However, the shine was taken off Bortoleto’s positive start in the closing minutes of the session. The Brazilian lost control of his Sauber on entry to the first Rivazza corner and he slid off track and into the barriers. The red flags promptly came out, ending running two minutes ahead of the chequered flag. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.545 23 230.875
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.577 0.032 23 230.779
3 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:16.597 0.052 19 230.719
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:16.599 0.054 26 230.713
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:16.641 0.096 22 230.586
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:16.696 0.151 21 230.421
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:16.905 0.360 15 229.795
8 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:16.922 0.377 21 229.744
9 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.925 0.380 23 229.735
10 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.998 0.453 23 229.517
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:17.032 0.487 23 229.416
12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:17.077 0.532 23 229.282
13 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:17.094 0.549 23 229.231
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:17.121 0.576 22 229.151
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:17.286 0.741 22 228.662
16 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:17.356 0.811 18 228.455
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:17.373 0.828 21 228.405
18 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:17.446 0.901 20 228.189
19 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:17.641 1.096 19 227.616
20 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:17.662 1.117 20 227.555