Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri has maintained his purple patch, going fastest in both practice sessions at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix as he set off superbly on his quest for a fourth race win in a row at Imola.
McLaren's dominance appeared pronounced once again, much to the chagrin of the home Ferrari faithful, as the Australian flyer again twice led home a one-two for his team, ahead of Lando Norris, to head the timesheets on Friday.
But the ever grounded Piastri was still keen to play down his team's advantage, declaring after his fine day: "I don't think it's just Lando and me.
"There are a few others who will join us in the fight tomorrow so we have got to keep our heads down and find a bit more.
"Saturday has been very important pretty much everywhere this year, and Imola - regardless of what the rest of this year has looked like - is a place where qualifying means a lot."
Piastri, who's seeking a fifth win of the campaign while protecting a 16-point championship lead, lapped the famed Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in a time of one minute 16.545 seconds in the opening session before lowering it to 1:15.293 later in the afternoon.
Norris was, respectively, 0.032sec and 0.025sec slower as he seeks to regain some confidence after being comprehensively eclipsed by his teammate so far in 2025.
Pierre Gasly was a surprise third for Alpine in the second practice, but 0.276 slower than Piastri, which gives a fair indication of McLaren's superiority.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, in contrast, could only finish fifth and 11th respectively in his first race in Italy as a Ferrari driver -- 0.096sec and 0.650sec off the pace.
Red Bull's four-times world champion Max Verstappen was seventh and fifth, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was sixth fastest in the second session which offered a more representative idea of the conditions the drivers will face in qualifying on Saturday.
While Verstappen complained that the Red Bull was "drifting everywhere" and the Ferrari pair moaned about their brakes, there was serenity about McLaren's one-two which suggests that Piastri might be wrong in thinking they'll find winning in Imola harder than during their last outing in Miami.
Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto, on debut for Alpine after replacing dropped Australian Jack Doohan, was 17th in practice one but up to 13th by the end of the afternoon.
A third practice session will be held on Saturday before qualifying in the afternoon, ahead of Sunday's race itself.
With agencies
