Charles Leclerc Tops Monza FP1 with Ferrari One-Two Finish

Charles Leclerc lit up Monza in first practice, topping the times and leading a Ferrari one-two ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton, with George Russell third for Mercedes.

On a sun-drenched Friday lunchtime, as most of the field bolted on soft tyres for their first serious laps, Leclerc did it the hard way. His 1m 23.008s came on the medium compound, a punchy effort that went up on the timing screens and simply stayed there until the chequered flag.

It was the sort of lap that stirs the old place. The Tifosi had their early roar.

Ferrari strike first as rookies flood the field

FP1 at Monza had an unusual look. Four rookies, four big seats.

• Ayumu Iwasa climbed into Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
• Luke Browning took over Alex Albon’s Williams.
• Paul Aron returned in Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
• Colton Herta got his third outing of the season, this time in place of Sergio Perez at Cadillac.

There was change at Red Bull’s sister operation too. Liam Lawson began his second straight weekend in the senior Red Bull, again deputising for the injured Isack Hadjar, which in turn kept Yuki Tsunoda in Lawson’s usual Racing Bulls seat.

Iwasa led a queue of cars out as the session went green at 1230 local time. Track temperature rising, grandstands filling, and most of the grid starting on the hard tyre. A few, including Leclerc, preferred mediums; others rolled the dice early on softs.

The traffic came immediately. Rookies found themselves in the thick of it, and tempers flickered. Iwasa complained over the radio after catching Aron’s Alpine dawdling on the racing line. Up front, Russell laid down the first marker, a 1m 23.802s that put him almost four tenths clear of Lando Norris in the opening phase.

Herta stoppage triggers red flag

The rhythm snapped when yellow flags flew. Herta coasted to a halt with what the team suspected was a hydraulic problem, instructed to stop the car out on circuit. A Virtual Safety Car came first, then a full red flag as marshals moved to recover the stricken MAC-26.

When the session resumed with just over half an hour left, Norris sat on top with a 1m 23.719s. The field poured back out, this time with more commitment and softer tyres. Russell and Kimi Antonelli both bolted on softs for Mercedes and immediately found time.

Russell briefly reclaimed P1. Then Leclerc arrived.

On mediums, he hooked up a lap that cut three tenths from Russell’s benchmark. The stopwatch read 1m 23.008s, and the Ferrari pit wall knew they had something to work with. The grandstands knew it too.

Hamilton slotted into third and Antonelli, wearing a Valentino Rossi-inspired helmet for his home race, took fourth. Aron again drew criticism on the radio, this time from Tsunoda, who fumed at finding the Estonian in his way.

Busy finish as Leclerc’s time stands firm

The final 15 minutes turned into a familiar Monza dance: long runs, slipstream experiments, and heavy traffic through the chicanes. The timesheet shuffled but never quite enough to trouble the red car at the top.

Hamilton found more speed and jumped to P2, ending the hour less than two tenths behind his team mate. Russell slipped to third, three tenths off Leclerc’s benchmark.

Lawson delivered an assured performance to take fourth in the Red Bull, underlining his growing comfort in the car. Antonelli’s soft-tyre work left him fifth, with Norris in sixth for McLaren.

Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad impressed in seventh, ahead of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto. Franco Colapinto put his Alpine ninth, with Aron completing the top 10 despite his traffic run-ins.

Oscar Piastri ended up 11th for McLaren, followed by Tsunoda and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg. Ollie Bearman, in an upgraded Haas, took P14. Browning was 15th, just ahead of the other Williams of Carlos Sainz.

Iwasa’s early promise left him down the order, followed by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin.

Herta propped up the times after completing only five laps before his car shut down.

Ferrari walk away from the opening session with the early advantage and a partisan crowd already on their side. The question now is whether that 1m 23.008s was a statement, or just a teaser, when the field goes again in Free Practice 2 at 1600 local time.