Lando Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri in Emilia Romagna Grand Prix final practice
Max Verstappen was third
Lando Norris got the better of team-mate Oscar Piastri in final practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Max Verstappen showed signs he could take the fight to the McLaren pair.
Championship leader Piastri edged out Norris in both sessions on Friday as McLaren claimed a one-two practice double.
The grid’s dominant car was on top again on Saturday but it was the British driver who led the way, a tenth ahead of his team-mate who leads the standings by 16 points having won the last three races.
Verstappen improved in FP2 on Friday after complaining of issues with the rear of his car when finishing only seventh in the opening running.
The four-time world champion made another step forward in the final session ahead of qualifying at the historic Imola circuit and had the fastest time on the medium tyres.
Norris and Piastri jumped ahead of Verstappen on the soft tyres, with the Dutchman finishing third and 0.181 seconds off the pace.
Verstappen’s Red Bull has struggled to match the dominant McLaren in the early part of the season but he has claimed pole in Japan, Saudi Arabia and Miami and looks set to contend for a third successive pole later on Saturday.
It was another difficult session for Lewis Hamilton at his first home race as a Ferrari driver.
After a promising run in FP1 on Friday, he could manage only 11th in FP2 and was 10th in final practice – almost a whopping nine tenths adrift of Norris’ time.
Italian Kimi Antonelli was fourth for Mercedes at his first home race, ahead of Charles Leclerc for Ferrari and Carlos Sainz for Williams.
George Russell was eighth fastest in the second Mercedes.
Qualifying for Sunday’s race at Imola gets under way at 1600 local time (1500 BST).
