Norris pips Piastri in clumsy third Imola practice

The McLaren duo were the only drivers to go under the 1:15s bracket and were split by just 0.100s at the end of 60 minutes.

Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and leading Ferrari Charles Leclerc.

While Verstappen was competitive, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda was a lowly 17th. The Japanese driver bemoaned the handling of his RB21, noting he had “zero grip” on his final qualifying simulation.

Carlos Sainz (Williams), Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), George Russell (Mercedes), Alex Albon (Williams), and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) completed the top 10.

Just under 10 minutes into the session, Hamilton set the first representative lap time – a 1:16.983s on medium compound tyres, which he improved to a 1:15.866s.

Most elected not to go out early in the 60-minute session.

On the stroke of 20 minutes, Piastri pipped Hamilton with a 1:15.833s but that was beaten almost immediately by Max Verstappen on a 1:15.579s.

Norris dethroned Piastri with his first flying lap, clocking a 1:15.656s.

Charles Leclerc shot to the top but was stunned shortly thereafter by Isack Hadjar whose 1:15.508s put him just 0.021s clear of the Ferrari.

After being baulked by Leclerc in the opening minutes of Free Practice 1, Fernando Alonso again complained about the Monegasque dawdling in his Ferrari.

“Yeah, I mean, the Ferrari at the last corner, yeah… both Ferraris, they think they are alone on track always,” he remarked to his team.

On the stroke of halfway, Verstappen improved the benchmark to bring the session’s best time down to a 1:15.130s, 0.139s clear of Norris on his second run.

At the halfway point, Verstappen led Norris, Hadjar, Leclerc, Piastri, Hamilton, Sainz, Albon, Tsunoda, and Russell.

Pushing hard as we enter the final stages of practice 💪#F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/NUFxU9dbVu

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 17, 2025

Then Lawson spun out of Variante Tamburello. Exiting the right-hander, his VCARB-02 looped around on him and flat-spotted all four tyres.

Asked whether he was okay, Lawson replied: “I’ve no idea how, but yeah, all good.”

The times continued to improve, albeit mostly on the medium compound tyres.

Piastri’s first soft tyre run was aborted with 16 minutes to go after he ran wide at Acque Minerali.

Verstappen’s first soft tyre run was also thwarted by a mistake at Variante Alta and he wasn’t able to improve on his session-best 1:15.078s.

Norris was the first driver to go under the 1:15s mark with a 1:14.897s soft tyres.

With just under 10 minutes to go, Kimi Antonelli fired his first meaningful shot of the weekend to go fourth fastest while his teammate George Russell bemoaned a lack of pace.

Norris’ second soft tyre began in dramatic fashion when he got loose on corner entry to Tamburello. He failed to make the turn and instead skated across the gravel.

A dusty detour for Norris at Turn 2 😮#F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/x8LdH8X9Ti

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 17, 2025

Piastri’s second soft tyre run took him from third to second and within 0.100s of Norris.

There were no noteworthy improvement in the final moments of practice, setting up a tantalising qualifying session.

Notably, Verstappen’s best lap time was set on medium compound tyres.

Qualifying for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix is scheduled for midnight AEST.

Results: Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Free Practice 3