McLaren continues to lead the way as FP1 ahead of the Emilia-Romagna GP in Imola placed both the orange cars on top of the leaderboard. The closest driver behind the McLarens, Carlos Sainz in the Williams, followed by Russell and Hamilton.
As the teams and drivers were looking to get acclimatised to the track at Imola in the scorching sun, McLaren had a point to prove this weekend. Since the first day at the Miami Grand Prix, there were rumours of McLaren using water in their tyres to keep them cool. However, the FIA has investigated and cleared the Papaya team of any wrongdoing.
In addition, this is a weekend where a lot of teams will be bringing upgrades to their cars in hopes of challenging their competitors. McLaren will now need to prove that they can remain on top.
McLaren tops FP1 at Imola GP
After FP1, McLaren continued to stay on top with Oscar Piastri ahead of Lando Norris. They were followed by Carlos Sainz, George Russell, and Lewis Hamilton. The top 5 were separated by less than a 10th of a second in FP1.
Max Verstappen in the Red Bull continue to struggle with pace. However, this year, we have seen Max struggle in the practice session, only to deliver an impressive result in qualifying and the race. So we can never count them out for a podium as long as Verstappen is at the helm.
FP1 CLASSIFICATION
Piastri leads a McLaren 1-2, Hermann seventh on debut #F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/sfdFSmp0uu
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 16, 2025
Over the past few races, Williams have been very impressive with their pace. This pace has continued on to this weekend. Despite bringing no updated parts for the weekend, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon look strong to get into Q3 for a potential points finish on Sunday. This could further extend their lead in the midfield battle and could threaten the Ferraris as well.
Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari faced a bit of trouble with his helmet during the session. Halfway through FP1, it was evident that Charles was struggling. His helmet started to lift, and that made it very difficult for him to stay focused. Ferrari was forced to pit him and change his helmet. But he continued to struggle with the balance of the car throughout the session. He only managed to log the 12th fastest time on the track in FP1.
Gabriel Bortoleto crashes late into FP1
The session was almost incident-free until Bortoleto put his Sauber into the wall with 2 minutes to go in the session. Thankfully, the driver was safe, but the session did not continue as there was not enough time to clear the incident.
Bortoleto hops out of his car after his visit to the Turn 18 barriers
That’s the end of the session #F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/VRgRZ03P4t
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 16, 2025
The incident occurred in turn 18 when Bortoleto took too much kerb into the entry that resulting in an oversteer. He then overcorrected it and went straight into the wall.
Thankfully, the hit into the wall did not look too serious, and they might be able to get away with minimal damage to the front wing, nose and suspension. It didn’t seem like any damage was sustained by the power unit and gearbox. The team should be able to repair and replace the necessary parts to get the car ready for FP2 later today. The teams did not lose much time in research as the incident occurred towards the end of the session.
