Ferrari finally gave the tifosi something to cheer about on home tarmac. Charles Leclerc topped opening practice for the Italian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton right behind him, and the Scuderia’s freshly upgraded engine looked genuinely rapid rather than just optimistically fast in a press release.
It was a session light on Max Verstappen and heavy on incident, with a mandatory rookie outing, a home favourite’s power unit finally showing its worth, and Colton Herta doing what Colton Herta apparently does best this weekend: breaking cars.
Ferrari’s Upgrade Looks Like the Real Deal
Leclerc set the pace for most of FP1 and did it, notably, on the medium compound while much of the field ran softs. Hamilton slotted in second to make it a Ferrari 1-2, and by the time the session ended George Russell in the lead Mercedes was already a few tenths back. That is a promising sign for a team that has spent the year chasing Mercedes’ dominant package, and it lines up with what Ferrari revealed about fixing a turbo flaw in its second ADUO engine upgrade ahead of this very weekend.
Monza’s long straights have a habit of exposing which power units are bluffing and which ones actually deliver, so a Ferrari 1-2 here carries more weight than it might elsewhere. Whether that pace survives qualifying trim and race fuel is another question entirely, but for one Friday morning at least, Maranello had the fastest cars on its own doorstep.
No Verstappen, but Plenty of Substitutes
Max Verstappen was nowhere near the cockpit, watching from the pit box in his civvies while Red Bull fulfilled its mandatory rookie outing by handing the RB22 to Ayumu Iwasa. Every team must give a young driver track time twice a season, and Monza was apparently Red Bull’s chosen slot. Iwasa spent the session towards the back of the field, though it is impossible to know whether that reflects genuine pace or simply a conservative programme handed down by the team.
Liam Lawson, deputising again for the injured Isack Hadjar, was fourth fastest but a chunky margin off Leclerc and complained about an unstable car. That is not exactly the vote of confidence Red Bull wants to hear from a driver who is already juggling an unfamiliar seat, and it echoes Lawson’s own admission that the Red Bull and Racing Bulls cars feel very different everywhere.
Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez were also absent for the session, with Colton Herta taking over Perez’s Cadillac. Paul Aron, standing in for Alpine, was the fastest of the rookies in tenth, while Luke Browning had his own outing for Williams.
Herta’s Miserable Monza Continues
Herta’s session lasted roughly five laps before his Cadillac ground to a halt at the side of the track, triggering a red flag and a brief Virtual Safety Car while marshals cleared the stricken car. It capped an already grim day for the American, who had crashed his Formula 2 car at Lesmo before even climbing into the Cadillac, as covered by RacingNews.Today’s report on the incident. Two write-offs, or near write-offs, before lunch is not the kind of stat any driver wants attached to their name, rookie outing or not.
Antonelli and Norris Lurk Just Behind
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fifth fastest for Mercedes, a reasonable if unspectacular start given his commanding lead in the standings. Lando Norris, chasing a third successive win after victories in Hungary and the Netherlands, rounded out the top six for McLaren. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll continued to struggle with Honda’s straight-line deficit, a problem that looks particularly painful at a circuit built almost entirely from long straights.
None of Friday’s order should be mistaken for a reliable guide to Sunday’s grid. Fuel loads, compounds and sandbagging all conspire to make FP1 timesheets a work of speculative fiction most weekends. But a Ferrari 1-2 built on a harder tyre, at Monza, in front of a screaming home crowd, is the kind of signal that is hard to wave away entirely. Second practice gets underway at 14:00 UTC, with Verstappen back in the car this time, check the calendar for your local time.
FP1 Results, 2026 Italian Grand Prix
| Pos | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes |
| 4 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull Racing |
| 5 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
| 10 | Paul Aron | Alpine |
