Less than a tenth of a second covered the top five in opening practice at Imola; big four teams all debut upgrades as development race heats up; watch second practice later on Friday from 4pm with qualifying at Imola on Saturday at 3pm,

After winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Norris had been pushed aside as Piastri delivered four victories, and Verstappen one, enabling the Australian to lead the title race by 16 points. Verstappen delivered a brutal verdict on Red Bull’s chances, having introduced several upgrades to Imola.