McLaren looking ominous as Ferrari face 'critical' call

McLaren hinted at potential dominance of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend after Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris locked out the top two positions in both practice sessions.

At the end of the two hour-long runs at the 'old-school' Imola circuit, there was little to separate the duo, although it was the title-leading Australian who held sway on each occasion.

At the end of FP1, the margin was 0.032s; in FP2, it was 0.025s. As for their nearest rivals, led by the remarkably surprising figure of Pierre Gasly in his Alpine, the Frenchman was a quarter of a second adrift.

Such was the close-knit nature of the field, from third-placed Gasly to 13th-placed team-mate Franco Colapinto, on his return to F1 on a five-race deal with Alpine, just half a second covered the 11 drivers.

Home heroes let down fans

As for the Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, on whom so much hope and expectation have been placed this weekend in front of the Tifosi, the Monégasque was 0.475s off the pace in sixth, with the seven-time F1 champion 11th, a further 0.175s back.

On a low-downforce circuit, there was the feeling that the car would struggle, with Leclerc outlining at one stage exactly where. "We need to work on the entry of Turns 5, 9 and 11. It's critical I would say," he radioed to the team.

Out front, it was the McLarens who held sway, and whilst only Friday practice, Norris and Piastri are looking odds-on for a front-row lock-out in qualifying on Saturday.

The small caveat is that despite Pirelli debuting the C6 tyre, the softest it has developed in its range, Piastri's leading pace in FP2 was just over half-a-second down on Max Verstappen's pole from a year ago, underlining there is more to come for all drivers.

As with FP1, however, the session ended with a red flag. In the first session, it was Stake's Gabriel Bortoleto who ran over the gravel and into a barrier. In FP2., it was Isack Hadjar for Racing Bulls.

At high speed through Turns 2 and 3, Hadjar lost control, locking up and sliding off into the gravel at Tamburello, kissing a barrier with the left-hand side of the car.

Although he managed to escape, as he waited for an opportunity to return to a busy track, he buried the rear tyres in the gravel trap. There was just enough time for a restart, but not enough for any more serious laps to be posted.

Behind Gasly, Mercedes' George Russell was exactly four-tenths of a second down. In stark contrast, another home hero in team-mate Kimi Antonelli was a disconcerting 18th, 1.103s adrift.

This weekend, Mercedes has unveiled a new front wing in line with new regulations to be introduced at the Spanish GP in two weeks, designed to stop flexing.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was half a second behind Piastri in fifth. Late on, the Dutchman complained of having lost a nut he had picked up in the cockpit of his RB21.

Behind the Dutchman came Leclerc, who was followed by Hadjar, Yuki Tsunoda in his Red Bull, and Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

Bringing up the rear was Esteban Ocon in his Haas, over 1.1s behind Piastri.