So, like, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris totally killed it on Friday at the Imola Grand Prix, setting the pace for McLaren in Formula 1. Piastri was the man in FP1, and then he went ahead and outdid his teammate Norris by a hair’s breadth in FP2. They were like, “Move over, everyone else, McLaren’s in town.”
In the second session, Norris was all like, “I got this,” and set a solid time on the mediums. But then Carlos Sainz in the Williams was like, “Hold my drink,” and beat Norris’s time on the same tires. The battle was on, folks.
Then came the qualifying runs, and George Russell in the Mercedes was the first to smash last year’s pole time. But Piastri was like, “Not on my watch,” and clocked an even faster time, leaving Norris in his dust. The McLarens were on fire, with Gasly from Alpine and Russell following behind.
Verstappen finally got his act together after a rough FP1, but even the reigning champ couldn’t catch up to the McLaren duo. Leclerc was there in sixth, urging Ferrari to up their game in some tricky corners. And let’s not forget Hadjar, who had a little spin at the end of the session, bringing out the red flag.
Tsunoda had a solid performance, just behind his teammate, while Sainz and Albon rounded out the top 10. Hamilton had a rough day with brake issues, landing in 11th place. And Franco Colapinto made a decent comeback with Alpine, finishing in 13th place.
The session ended with some practice starts, giving teams a chance to fine-tune their strategies. It was a rollercoaster of a day at Imola, with McLaren showing they mean business in the 2025 season. Will they keep up the momentum in the upcoming races? Only time will tell.
