FP2 in Imola: McLaren One-Two! Gasly Surprises in Third, Russell Fourth, Verstappen Fifth. Ferrari Mid-Pack in Sixth and Eleventh, Antonelli Only 18th
LIVE coverage of FP2 at Imola! We’re racing at home in Italy, in Emilia-Romagna, for Round 7 of the 2025 F1 season. So far, McLaren has dominated the championship with five wins out of six, and they came out strong again this morning, locking out the top two with Piastri and Norris. The field remains tightly packed, however, with Russell and Hamilton just thousandths off the Papaya pair. Here’s how the morning session unfolded:
LIVE summary of the session
18:00- End of Session! Piastri and Norris secure another McLaren one-two, just as in FP1. Surprise performance from Pierre Gasly in third. Russell finishes fourth, Verstappen fifth. Ferrari ends up sixth with Leclerc and eleventh with Hamilton, though race pace looks promising. Kimi Antonelli is only eighteenth, having skipped qualifying simulations.
17:55- RED FLAG! Isack Hadjar crashes into the barriers at Tamburello. His session is over—and likely everyone else’s too
17:50-Promising race pace from Ferrari: Leclerc sets a 1:19.6, matching McLaren’s rhythm. The rest of the field lags behind around 1:20
17:43- Drivers out on yellow tyres testing race pace. Everyone is on track except Ocon, Stroll, and Alonso
17:38- Little movement in the standings, limited track action. Ferrari struggles notably with brake management on both cars
17:29- McLaren answers back—and how! Piastri sets the benchmark at 1:15.293, just 0.025s ahead of teammate Norris. Gasly holds third. Leclerc ties with Russell and Verstappen in sixth. Hamilton reports brake issues
17:26- Verstappen closes in on Russell! Just 0.042s off George’s 1:15.693. Tsunoda also close, only 0.134s down in P4. Hadjar sits third. McLaren’s turn now!
17:21- Qualifying simulations underway! Russell on the red C6 compound—introduced this weekend—goes fastest by two-tenths.
17:17-Norris back on top with a 1:15.952, Leclerc climbs to sixth, 0.344s off the Papaya driver. Red Bull provisionally in P7 and P9
17:12- An impressive showing from Williams! Provisional one-two for the British team, with Sainz leading on a 1:15.992—just 0.067s ahead of Albon. McLarens drop to third and fourth
17:08 – On medium tyres, Norris goes quickest with 1:16.074, followed by Verstappen, 0.345s back. Piastri, delayed by traffic at the final corner, is third, four-tenths off. Leclerc and Hamilton a full second down, in P11 and P12.
17:00 – GREEN LIGHT! Lewis Hamilton takes to the track in the Ferrari SF-25.
16:57- Session about to begin!
Photos: Scuderia Ferrari HP, McLaren, Atlassian Williams Racing