McLaren’s commanding one-two finishes in both Friday practice sessions at the 2025 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, led by championship leader Oscar Piastri with Lando Norris in tow, should have the Woking team brimming with confidence.
Yet, Norris, ever the pragmatist, slipped back into a conservative mindset at the end of the day’s running, tempering expectations despite the MCL39’s clear pace advantage at Imola.
After a tight FP1, both McLaren drivers detached themselves, in relative terms, from the field in FP2, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly clocking in their in the late afternoon session, a quarter of second behind team papaya’s duo.
Nevertheless, Norris remains wary, anticipating a tighter fight in qualifying as rivals close the gap, a recurring pattern in 2025 that keeps McLaren on edge.
“I think pretty happy today,” Norris said. “A difficult track to just get in the rhythm of things. It’s fast.
“This is a track all about timing and getting everything perfect, which is not easy to do when you’re going at the speeds that we do.
“Therefore a fun day, we made some improvements and hopefully some more to come for tomorrow.”
©McLaren
Despite the evident pace shown by both McLaren drivers – Piastri was on course to extend his lead further in FP2 before encountering traffic – Norris isn’t taking anything for granted.
“I’m sure he [Piastri’s] going to find things too. FP2 we always look good, we always look better than everyone and then we get to qualifying and they catch up.
“So I don’t think we are in a comfortable place, we still have work to do.
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“Alpine were quick, they have always been quick here. I’m sure Red Bull will catch up and Mercedes will be on it just when they turn their engines up. So nothing to be comfortable by. But I think a productive Friday.”
The significance of Saturday continues to grow in the current era of F1, with regulations pushing cars toward higher downforce and more sensitive aero behavior in traffic.
Clean air and track position remain critical – especially on a narrow and unforgiving circuit like Imola.
Piastri echoed the need for vigilance, emphasising that qualifying will be anything but a two-man fight.
“Yes. I mean Saturday has been very important pretty much everywhere this year,” said the Australian.
“Imola, I think regardless of what the rest of the year looks like, qualifying means a lot. That is going to be important."
“At the moment I don’t think it’s just Lando and I. There’s a few others will join us in the fight tomorrow. So we will have to keep our heads down and try and find a bit more.”
For now, McLaren remain the benchmark. But with Norris shifting back into his cautious gear, the message from Woking is unmistakable: they know the real fight starts on Saturday.
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