Max third in final practice at Imola

Published on 17 May 2025 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen finished third in the third practice session for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver ended the final practice in Imola with a deficit of just under two tenths of a second. Lando Norris was the fastest, just ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Under sunny skies in Imola, the third practice session got underway. As is typical for most third practice sessions, the start was quite quiet. Max only went out on track after 18 minutes. Meanwhile, several drivers had already posted lap times. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) started quickly on medium tyres. With a 1:15.866, he was the fastest of an eleven-driver group who had already set times. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) went out on track at the same time as Max. In their first laps, Piastri recorded a 1:15.8, Norris a 1:15.6, but the four-time world champion was a bit quicker. With a 1:15.579, the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver got off to a promising start on the mediums.

In the following minutes, the times improved further. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) initially took first place, but Max improved his time again on his second flying lap on the same tyres. He was the first this weekend to go under 1:15.2. But that was not the end for the world champion, because even after nine laps Max managed to better his time to a 1:15.0. With 25 minutes remaining, he was the fastest in the session. For Liam Lawson, the first half of the session did not go so well. He spun but managed to keep his car out of the gravel trap. However, his set of medium tyres had some flat spots.

With just over fifteen minutes to go, the soft tyres were fitted to the cars. Piastri aborted his first lap on the softs, but Max went for it. After a purple first sector, the Red Bull driver was unable to improve over the whole lap. Alex Albon (Williams) and George Russell (Mercedes) faced the same issue. Norris, however, did manage to improve. On the soft tyres, he recorded a 1:14.8, but overall it did not look certain there was more pace to be found on the softs. Nobody could beat Norris’s time, so he finished the session fastest. He had exactly a tenth of a second advantage over his McLaren teammate Piastri. Max ended the session third with just under two tenths behind first place, but his time was set on the mediums. A second run on the softs also did not result in an improvement.

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Results third free practice Emilia-romagna: