Piastri Defeats Norris To Win Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri defeated Lando Norris to win the second practice race at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Friday.

Piastri was just 0.025s quicker than his McLaren teammate, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in a surprise third.

Mercedes’ George Russell was four tenths off the pace in fourth, just ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in sixth.

All the drivers upgraded their cars, but Hamilton still struggled with a 0.650s deficit to Piastri.

Racing Bull’s Isack Hadjar finished seventh, with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda in eighth,, ahead of the Williams pair Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

Italian young star Kimi Antonelli finished 18th in his first race on home soil.

Piastri was delighted with the team’s performance while urging his teammates to finalise their preparations.

He said, “This wouldn’t be the first Friday where we look strong and everyone finds a bit more going into qualifying.

“We still want to find a bit more but everything has gone pretty smoothly. The car is feeling decent. Still a few more things to tweak, but all in all, not bad.

“Saturdays have been important pretty much everywhere. Imola is a place where qualifying means a lot, but at the moment, I don’t think it’s just Lando and me.

“I think there are a few others that will join us in the fight, so we have to keep our heads down and try and find a bit more.”

Reigning champion Max Verstappen was frustrated with the rear of his car despite the upgrade.

He said, “We tried a lot of bits. Some worked better than others but overall, not fast enough at the moment,” he said.

“We need more work to get a better corner balance to go faster. It’s the same in the long run. I mean, I got overtaken by the McLarens, which says enough, right? They pulled away.

“Even then, compared to other teams around us, it was a bit tough.”

Piastri has won four of the last five races and he is the favourite to win the title this season.

Piastri Defeats Norris To Win Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is first published on The Whistler Newspaper