Lando Norris handed McLaren the practice hat-trick at Imola as he took over at the top from his team-mate Oscar Piastri in FP3 for the Emilia Romagna GP.

Norris was one of only a few drivers to improve on the soft tyres, laying down a 1:14.897 to beat Piastri by a tenth, with Max Verstappen 0.081s further back.

Lando Norris continues McLaren’s P1 run at Imola

Runner-up to Oscar Piastri in Friday’s practices, Lando Norris was the first driver out on track in Saturday’s final practice. But after a solitary tyre preparation lap, he returned to the McLaren garage – and silence descended.

The Aston Martins broke that, both AMR25s running the latest upgrade package after Lance Stroll ran the new spec and Fernando Alonso the old on Friday. A lap apiece and they too pitted.

It wasn’t until 10 minutes into the session that Lewis Hamilton posted the first lap time, a 1:16.9. He was joined by a handful of drivers with Franco Colapinto second ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto. There were, however, just five times on the board.

Hamilton upped his pace to a 1:15.8 before McLaren and Red Bull entered the fray.

F1 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Piastri went quickest, purple in the middle sector, before he was demoted by Max Verstappen. The Dutchman was purple in the first and third sector, crossing the line with a 1:15.5. Both drivers, including Hamilton, were on the medium Pirellis.

As all but the Mercedes pairing of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell made their mark, it was Isack Hadjar in the Racing Bulls that sat P1 with a 1:15.5, 0.021s ahead of Charles Leclerc with Verstappen third.

Midway through the hour-long session, Verstappen was P1 ahead of Norris and Hadjar while Russell, having clocked the eighth fastest time, reported “quite a lot of bouncing” in his W16.

Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, was unhappy with Ferrari, claiming “they think they’re alone on the track, always”, while Liam Lawson went spinning in his Racing Bulls. Hadjar had a close call with Carlos Sainz as he went to practice a start at the end of the pit lane only for the Williams driver to come up on his left.

The drivers, including the entire top ten who had been on the medium Pirellis, swapped to the softs for the final 15 minutes. Norris went purple in the final sector to overhaul Verstappen by 0.181s. Many of the drivers, though, weren’t able to improve their times from the medium tyres.

Piastri was also on the move, up to third place, with Antonelli improving his time even when his team-mate Russell couldn’t, the Italian P4. Norris and Hamilton both had a moment with the gravel late in the session.

The session ended with McLaren 1-2, Norris ahead of Piastri, while Verstappen was third.

Emilia Romagna FP3 times

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:14.897
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.100
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.181
4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.502
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.554
6 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.587
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.611
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.632
8 George Russell Mercedes +0.765
9 Alexander Albon Williams +0.835
10 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.890
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.922
12 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +1.047
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.078
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1.080
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.093
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +1.149
17 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +1.213
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1.313
19 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +1.341
20 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +1.490

Read next: Verstappen claps back over ‘false’ Nordschleife GT3 claims