Ferrari Dominates First Practice at Monza
Charles Leclerc lit up Monza on Friday morning, leading a Ferrari one-two in first practice and giving the Tifosi an early taste of what their team’s long-awaited engine upgrade might deliver on home soil.
The Monegasque set a benchmark of 1:23.008, a lap that looked as sharp as it sounds, to edge team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.173s. George Russell, in the other Mercedes, was another tenth back in third, despite running the softer, supposedly quicker tyre.
For Ferrari, this was exactly the statement they wanted.
Ferrari’s power play at home
Monza is where Ferrari chose to unleash the second and final engine upgrade allowed this season, a move prompted by FIA measurements that had placed their power unit behind those of Red Bull and Mercedes. They arrived not just with extra horsepower, but with a raft of circuit-specific chassis tweaks aimed at trimming drag and sharpening the car through the high-speed sweeps of the Temple of Speed.
The early evidence was striking. Both Leclerc and Hamilton posted their best times on the medium compound, while Russell’s top effort came on softs. On paper, that should favour the Mercedes. On track, it didn’t.
There is context, though. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, fifth for Mercedes, knows his Sunday is already compromised. A raft of engine-component changes means he will start from the back of the grid regardless of qualifying, so there is little point in showing his full hand over one lap this early in the weekend.
Even holding back, he was still in the mix.
Antonelli on the back foot, title picture wide open
Antonelli’s penalty throws a fresh twist into a title fight he currently controls. The Italian sits 59 points clear of both Russell and Hamilton, who share second place in the standings, with Lando Norris 83 points adrift in fourth.
Norris, winner of the last two races and suddenly alive in his bid to defend the crown, ended the session only sixth, tucked in behind Antonelli. McLaren did not threaten the top of the timesheets, but few in the paddock will read too much into a single Friday run at Monza, where slipstream games and fuel loads can distort the picture.
Still, the sight of two Ferraris at the top, on mediums, in front of their home crowd, will not have gone unnoticed on the Mercedes pit wall.
Lawson leads the Red Bull reshuffle
Behind the Ferrari–Mercedes battle, Liam Lawson produced one of the standout performances of the morning. The New Zealander, stepping in at Red Bull, took an impressive fourth place in a session where the world champions fielded a makeshift line-up.
Red Bull ran without either of their confirmed 2026 race drivers. Lawson filled in for Isack Hadjar, who remains sidelined with a wrist injury suffered over the summer break. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, was one of four regulars to sit out the session to make room for rookies.
Ayumu Iwasa took Verstappen’s seat and finished 17th, learning the ropes in one of the most unforgiving places to make your mark: a low-downforce Monza set-up in a car built to win.
Among the newcomers, Paul Aron stood out. The Estonian delivered the best result of the rookie crop with 10th place for Alpine, a tidy and composed showing in a midfield car that demands precision to extract laptime.
Rookie auditions and early setbacks
It was not smooth sailing for everyone getting a rare taste of F1 machinery.
Colton Herta’s opportunity with Cadillac ended almost as soon as it began, cut short by a technical issue that left him watching from the garage rather than carving through the Lesmos. For a driver trying to press his case for a future seat, lost track time at Monza hurts.
Britain’s Luke Browning at least banked some mileage, ending the session 15th for Williams. On a day where the stopwatch tells only part of the story, simply surviving a busy FP1 without drama has value.
The weekend takes shape
The Italian Grand Prix weekend now builds quickly from here. Practice Two later on Friday will offer a clearer read on race pace, while Saturday’s final practice and qualifying will reveal whether Ferrari’s early roar can be sustained when everyone turns their engines up and strips away the fuel.
For now, Monza belongs to Leclerc and Hamilton in red, with a new Ferrari power unit humming and a grandstand of expectant fans daring to believe this might be more than a Friday illusion.
