F1 Racing, GP Emilia-Romagna: “Rookie” Hermann appears, surprising Williams and Alpine
(F1 News) Oscar Piastri has been dominant in the two pre-race testing sessions.

Oscar Piastri continued his impressive form at the start of both pre-race testing sessions for the Emilia-Romagna GP. The Australian was once again quicker than team-mate Lando Norris. However, the sixth session ended in an unfinished finish after a red flag was brought out after an incident in the final minutes.

FP1: First lap of the first lap, outside Norris and Sainz

Oscar Piastri set the fastest time in the first testing session (FP1) at the Emilia-Romagna GP, ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz – the Williams driver who made a surprise appearance in the top three.

Colapinto returns to F1 at Alpine

The day started at 1.30pm local time in dry, sunny conditions. The big name to watch was Franco Colapinto, the Argentinian who has been selected by Alpine to replace Jack Doohan for the year ahead.

Although Colapinto used Medium C5 tyres in the early stages, most of the other drivers opted for Soft – with the C6 compound being introduced for the first time in the 2025 season. Charles Leclerc also made his return after missing Thursday’s media day due to health concerns.

Leclerc collided with Fernando Alonso early on, leaving the Aston Martin driver groaning over the radio with his SF-25 ring. Not long after, Leclerc slid out of the Wolfpack at Turn 15 after handling poorly at Turn 14.

Leclerc uncomfortable in FP1

Lando Norris set the first lap with a 1:17.125, before George Russell (Mercedes) moved ahead with a 1:16.599, ahead of Sainz and youngster Kimi Antonelli – who was taking the spotlight on his home turf.

Meanwhile, Leclerc continued to have trouble with his helmet being “open” and making it difficult to concentrate. Lewis Hamilton was still struggling to find stability in his SF-25, struggling with braking.

Towards the end of the session, the track became crowded as most drivers switched to Soft. The McLaren duo took advantage of the opportunity to take over 1-2 positions with a 1:16.545 first lap – just 0.032s faster than Norris.

Bortoleto crashes last

Max Verstappen also suffered a skid, which may have caused a feedback failure in his Red Bull car. The Dutchman took part in a closed-door test in a Ferrari 296 GT3 at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, using the pseudonym ‘Franz Hermann’ to avoid attracting attention (but he did break the GT3 record at the track). This is why F1 made the interesting change of putting Franz Hermann on the FP1 leaderboard instead of Max Verstappen.

The incident happened when Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) lost control at Turn 18, hit the barrier after climbing over the track, causing a red flag to be raised and ending FP1 early.

The final result was Piastri P1, followed by Norris, Sainz and Russell – who were separated by less than 0.055 seconds. Hamilton finished fifth despite a lacklustre chase. The top 10 also included Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Verstappen, Albon, Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg (Kick Sauber).

Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) was 11th, followed by Leclerc, Antonelli, Alonso and Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls). Yuki Tsunoda was 16th, Colapinto 17th, while the two Haas drivers – Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon – were 18th and 20th, sandwiched between them by Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls).

FP2: Hadjar causes red flags

Friday in Imola brings ideal weather conditions

With dry and sunny conditions at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari International Circuit at 17:00 local time, all the drivers started FP2. This was an important session to assess the track conditions ahead of qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

After the first run, Norris took the lead on Medium tyres and his 1:16.074 was almost half a second faster than Piastri. However, the components would come into play quickly as Piastri ran a 1:15.293 lap after 30 minutes of FP2.

In the second half, most of the drivers switched to Soft C6 tyres. Russell put Mercedes on top with a 1:15.693. However, Norris and Piastri did not let him hold on to the lead for long as they continued to set impressive times.

Hadjar stops at Tamburello

It looked like FP2 was over, but the session was interrupted by a red flag after an incident with Isack Hadjar. The Racing Bulls driver lost ground at Tamburello and crashed into the barrier. Although there were no injuries, Hadjar’s car was stuck, causing the session to be stopped while the incident was resolved.

The green flag was raised, but there was not enough time left for any of the drivers to change their positions. Piastri finished FP2 with a time of 1:15.293, topping the timesheets, followed by Norris and Pierre Gasly (Alpine), who continued his impressive form in third. Russell and Verstappen (Red Bull) completed the top five.

Gasly enters the top three in FP2

Ferrari driver Leclerc had some issues in the smooth session as he repeatedly went down to brake problems on the SF-25. He was still sixth but could not compete with the drivers ahead. Leclerc’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton also had a difficult day, finishing 11th, with Kimi Antonelli – Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes – finishing 18th.

The young Hadjar, despite his problems, was the best rookie in seventh. Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were next, while Haas’ Ollie Bearman finished 12th.

Fernando Alonso, the Aston Martin leader, finished P14. His team-mate Lance Stroll could only manage 17th, while Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber), who caused the red flag in FP1, finished 16th.

With two retests under his belt, McLaren are showing their superiority at Imola. Meanwhile, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes will have to improve if they are to fight for the top spots in qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

Full results from the two sessions of Day 6 of the 2025 Emilia-Romagna GP

FP1

FP2