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

Charles Leclerc continued to lead the way in second free practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri a narrow second.

After two sprint race weekends in a row, Imola returned to the regular format, allowing teams to test upgrade packages in the first session and then focus on preparations for qualifying and the race during the second 60-minute run on Friday.

The man who had been quickest in the earlier phase, Leclerc, remained on top in the early part of FP2. With half an hour gone, his 1m15.969s was the benchmark, with Piastri 0.129s adrift in second and George Russell third for Mercedes with a 1m16.311s.

The Monegasque improved again on the soft tyres, although only marginally to a 1m15.906s. Piastri did not better his time, while Max Verstappen continued to grapple with the RB20, leaving the Ferrari driver’s lap unchallenged and securing top spot across both Friday sessions.

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

The Mercedes pair started their running on hard tyres before switching to softs. Lewis Hamilton, who had complained about his car’s balance, jumped ahead of his teammate with a 1m16.297s, demoting Russell to fifth at the end of the session. The German team saw its updated W15 in the top 10 in both practice outings.

Several drivers ran off track at Imola, including Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard ended up sixth in the afternoon, four tenths behind his leading team-mate. The situation for the Red Bull pair did not improve much, with Verstappen seventh and Sergio Perez eighth. The Mexican was under investigation for potentially impeding Leclerc.

Nico Hulkenberg took ninth for Haas, while Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 for Aston Martin. With the field tightly bunched, Alex Albon in 18th was only 1.229s off Leclerc’s best time.

Unlike the first session, which was briefly interrupted by a red flag, FP2 ran uninterrupted. However, traffic conditions affected some drivers, including Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese driver, who battled severe bouncing in the morning, completed 27 laps but remained 0.4s behind Albon and half a second off his Sauber teammate Valtteri Bottas.