McLaren driver Oscar Piastri set the pace in the second free practice session (FP2) at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.

Piastri’s fastest lap of 1:25.293 seconds was just 0.025s quicker than McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, with Pierre Gasly a surprise third for Alpine.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: FP2 report from Imola

Bright and sunny conditions remained the order of the day as the cars returned to the track for FP2, with all 20 drivers taking to the track inside the opening five minutes.

Lewis Hamilton, racing in Italy for the first time as a Ferrari driver this weekend, caught a wayward moment at Tamburello on his first flying lap of the session.

Norris’s McLaren set the pace on medium tyres in the early stages, going 0.345s faster than Max Verstappen on his first timed lap of the session with Piastri a tenth further back in third.

The full story of Friday at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

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Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso was forced to take avoiding action on the entry to Tamburello where the Alpine of Franco Colapinto, making his first appearance since the 2024 season finale on Abu Dhabi, was moving slowly.

“I nearly crashed,” Alonso told Aston Martin over team radio.

Hamilton’s struggles to control the Ferrari continued as he dipped a wheel into the gravel on the exit of the Variante Alta chicane.

At the front, Norris beat his previous benchmark to post a 1:15.952 lap time on his second quick lap on mediums, with Williams pair Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon improving to second and third respectively.

Hamilton’s adventures continued as he came across a slow-moving Sauber and Red Bull in quick succession in the middle sector, raising a hand in frustration, before once again coming close to the gravel on the exit of the final corner.

Russell surged to top spot as the field switch to soft tyres – the new C6 compound is making its debut at Imola – going 0.259s faster than Norris’s previous best time.

Verstappen fell 0.042s short of Russell’s lap moments later, with the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda briefly improving to third on the C6.

Tsunoda confirmed to media including PlanetF1.com on Thursday that he is running the “same car” as Verstappen this weekend following Red Bull’s recent upgrades.

However, the McLarens returned to the fore when the switched to softs with Piastri setting an unbeaten lap of 1:15.293s, 0.025s faster than Norris.

Gasly’s Alpine improved to third during the flurry of soft runs ahead of Russell, Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Isack Hadjar and Tsunoda.

“These damn brakes, mate. These brakes are a problem,” Hamilton remarked as his woes continued, meanwhile, with the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli cutting the track at Variante Alta.

Hamilton has struggled to adapt to Brembo brakes since his move to Ferrari over the winter, having become accustomed to using Carbon Industrie braking materials during his 12 years with the Mercedes team.

Verstappen was also heard complaining of bottoming through Turns 11 and 12, more commonly known as Acque Minerali.

Norris was forced to catch a rear slide as he negotiated Rivazza 2, the final corner of the lap, in his bid to close the gap to Piastri.

Attention turned to long runs across the final 30 minutes, but not before Leclerc laid bare the extent of Ferrari’s woes over team radio.

“Guys, we need to work on the entry of Turns 5, 9 and 11,” Leclerc said. “It’s critical, I would say.”

Antonelli encountered a slow-moving Red Bull on the approach to Rivazza 1 during his long run on mediums, remarking over team radio: “That was super dangerous from the Red Bull!”

Colapinto was once again in the wars at the Villeneuve chicane, successfully resisting Norris’s attempts to pass him into the left-right flick.

Verstappen also had trouble finding a way past Colapinto, commenting: “What’s this guy doing, man? Using his DRS.”

The reigning World Champion was also experiencing some discomfort in the cockpit of his RB21.

“Something keeps touching my foot under braking into Turn 2,” he told Red Bull. “I mean, I’ll continue driving but we need to check it. My throttle foot.”

He later added: “Can you have a look? Oh, I lost it. It’s like a nut. I had a nut in my hand but it fell into my seat.”

Hadjar triggered the red flag with around six minutes of the session remaining, spinning on the exit of Tamburello and making contact with the tyre wall on the outside of the track.

The Racing Bulls driver’s attempts to rejoin came to nothing, bringing an early end to his session.

The session was resumed with two minutes left on the clock, allowing the drivers to perform practice starts on the grid.

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