McLaren complete practice sweep at Imola with Verstappen close behind

McLaren completed a clean sweep of practice at Imola as Lando Norris led the team’s third one-two of the weekend in final practice.

Many drivers found it challenging to extract a better lap time from the new C6 compound Pirelli has brought for this weekend’s race. Norris was one of the first to do so, setting a 1’14.897 which stood as the best time of the session. Only team mate Oscar Piastri was also able to break the 1’15 barrier.

Although both McLaren drivers set their best times on the softs, it wasn’t without some difficulty. Norris told his team to check his floor after he straight-lined the high-speed Tamburello chicane. Piastri went off at the Variante Alta on his first flying lap on softs.

Verstappen put a clean lap in but lapped slower on softs than he managed on mediums. He was consistently the quicker driver on the harder rubber.

His team mate Yuki Tsunoda couldn’t get anywhere near his pace, however. The pair were split by over a second at the end of the session, Tsunoda a lowly 17th.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was one of few drivers who managed to improve his time across all three sectors on the soft rubber. That put him fourth, albeit half a second off Norris. Team mate George Russell complained of bouncing in his car, particularly in the high-speed Villeneuve sequence, on his way to eighth.

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Charles Leclerc was almost as far off the pace as Antonelli. His team mate Lewis Hamilton was on course to match his time until he ran wide at the exit of the final corner, kicking up dust.

Both Williams cars appeared in the top 10, Carlos Sainz Jnr just six-thousandths of a second off Leclerc. The FW47s were separated by Isack Hadjar – who had a near-miss in the pits when he performed a practice start as Alexander Albon was passing by – and Russell.

Liam Lawson replicated his team mate’s second practice spin at Tamburello but managed not to become stuck in a gravel trap and continued on his way to the 14th-fastest time. Pierre Gasly was unable to replicate Alpine’s strong pace from yesterday and was only 15th.

2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Grand Prix third practice result

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2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Grand Prix combined practice times

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2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

• Antonelli was tiring from home race at Imola attention by Friday – Wolff
• Ferrari struggling to recreate set-up which “worked well” in Shanghai – Hamilton
• Verstappen told Red Bull to use Tsunoda before “hold him up” call
• ‘Saturdays have been mine for years but for some reason it’s drifted away’ – Norris
• “Plan C?”: Why McLaren only got their strategy right for one driver at Imola