The China Mail - Piastri beats Norris again in McLaren's second 1-2 in practice at Imola

Piastri, who leads Norris by 16 points in the drivers' title race, maintained his consistency and poise with a best lap in 1min 15.293sec, outpacing Norris by 0.025sec.

On a close and competitive day at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Pierre Gasly was an impressive third for the turbulent Alpine team ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

Charles Leclerc was sixth for Ferrari ahead of Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls, who suffered a late off-track excursion, Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

The top ten were separated by only 0.641sec with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton down in 11th for Ferrari after a day of frustration and struggles with his car's braking.

Local hero, 18-year-old Bologna native Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, was 18th while returning rookie Franco Colapinto, replacing Jack Doohan at Alpine, was 13th.

In beautiful warm spring conditions amid the vineyards of Emilia Romagna, Gasly was first to set a competitive time in 1:16.978 before being overhauled by Hadjar's Racing Bull, Verstappen and then the McLarens.

Norris took the initiative ahead of Piastri before Verstappen split them, followed by Russell, as times tumbled rapidly and positions switched with both Williams drivers showing true pace –- Sainz going second behind Norris and Albon third.

After winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Norris had been pushed aside as Piastri delivered four victories, and Verstappen one, enabling the Australian to lead the title race by 16 points.

McLaren's rise added to the pressure at Ferrari for their home race with Frederic Vasseur hoping that the signing of Hamilton would add to the momentum of 2024, but it was a torrid day for the 40-year-old Briton as he struggled with braking issues.

More than that, news that his father Anthony is poised to join the International Motoring Federation (FIA) in an official role supporting young driver development cannot have helped -– Lewis having been a constant critic of the FIA and president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in recent months.

After their opening runs on mediums, the field switched to softs with Russell setting the pace in 1:15.693, two-tenths clear of Norris with Gasly going third ahead of Russell, Vertappen and Leclerc.

With 16 minutes remaining, most teams switched back to mediums for long run data acquisition which was interrupted when Hadjar lost control of his Racing Bull at Tamburello and became 'beached' in the gravel.

The session was red-flagged with four minutes remaining, leaving the McLarens just enough time to take another run on softs before the chequered flag.

U.Feng--ThChM