Emilia Romagna Grand Prix FP2: Leclerc stays on top as Verstappen struggles for grip

Charles Leclerc maintained his grip on the top of the timesheet in the second free practice session for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri a narrow second.

After two Sprint weekends in a row, Imola returned to the regular schedule, allowing teams to test upgrade packages in the first practice and then prepare for qualifying and the race during the 60-minute Friday afternoon session.

Leclerc, who was quickest in the earlier phase, continued his strong form. In the first half-hour, his 1m15.969s was the benchmark, with Piastri 0.129s adrift in second and George Russell in the Mercedes third fastest with a 1m16.311s.

The Monegasque improved again on the soft tires, although only marginally to a 1m15.906s. Piastri did not better his time, while Max Verstappen remained slightly off the pace with the RB20, leaving Leclerc unchallenged for the fastest lap of the day across both sessions.

For Honda-powered Red Bull, which has its factory just 20 minutes away in Faenza, it was also a home event. Yuki Tsunoda climbed to fourth after improving to a 1m16.286s, ahead of Russell.

The Mercedes pair started on hard tires for long runs before switching to the soft compound halfway through. Lewis Hamilton, after a 1m16.297s, moved ahead of his teammate, dropping Russell to fifth. The W15, with its new upgrades, was in the top three in both practice sessions.

Several drivers ran wide at the historic track, including Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard ended up sixth in the afternoon, 0.4s behind his leading teammate. The Red Bull duo didn’t fare much better, with Verstappen seventh and Sergio Perez eighth. Perez was under investigation for allegedly impeding Leclerc.

Nico Hulkenberg took ninth place, while Fernando Alonso put the Aston Martin in tenth. The field was tightly packed, with Alex Albon in 18th only 1.229s off Leclerc’s pace.

Unlike the first session, which was briefly interrupted by a red flag, FP2 ran smoothly, although traffic conditions affected some drivers, including Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese driver, who had severe bouncing issues in the earlier session, completed 27 laps but remained 0.4s behind Albon and half a second off team-mate Valtteri Bottas.