Charles Leclerc ended Friday at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on top after setting the fastest lap during second practice, leading from Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda.
Following an intriguing first practice session earlier in the day, Esteban Ocon took the lead as FP2 commenced at 1700 local time, with drivers hitting the track to log early laps. Nico Hulkenberg faced issues with his Haas, returning to the pits without setting a time, while Williams encountered a slow start with both cars stationary in the garage.
On the track, action ensued as Fernando Alonso navigated past a sluggish Lewis Hamilton on the racing line, and Leclerc requested a steering check for his Ferrari despite initially topping the timesheets. Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant joined the session later, with most drivers transitioning to fast laps on soft tires. Leclerc held onto the top spot with a time of 1m 15.906s.
In P2, Piastri trailed by 0.192s for McLaren, while Tsunoda impressed by securing the third-fastest time in front of Red Bull’s home crowd.
Elsewhere, Max Verstappen grappled with grip issues in the Red Bull, showing frustration after a close call with Hamilton. As the session neared its end, Leclerc, Piastri, and Tsunoda maintained their positions in the top three, with Tsunoda facing investigation for a potential practice start violation.
Hamilton claimed fourth place, followed by teammate George Russell in fifth, and Carlos Sainz from Ferrari in sixth. Verstappen struggled, finishing in seventh after a gravel excursion in the final minutes.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez trailed Verstappen, prompting a reaction from Leclerc for impeding. Hulkenberg led the Haas team in ninth place, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in 10th, with Daniel Ricciardo in 11th for Red Bull and McLaren’s Lando Norris in 12th.
Further down the grid, Lance Stroll secured 13th place for Aston Martin, with the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly in 14th and 15th respectively. Valtteri Bottas took 16th for Kick Sauber, while Kevin Magnussen claimed 17th after sitting out FP1. Albon and Sargeant concluded a challenging day for Williams in 18th and 20th, with Zhou Guanyu from Kick Sauber in 19th place.
As the first day of track activities concluded, teams reviewed data ahead of the third practice session on Saturday at 1230 local time, leading up to the afternoon qualifying session.