Charles Leclerc Dominates Monza FP1 with Ferrari One-Two
Charles Leclerc lit up Monza in first practice, topping the times and leading a Ferrari one-two in front of an already expectant Tifosi.
The Monegasque didn’t even need the soft tyres to do it. While rivals bolted on the red-marked compound for their headline laps, Leclerc stayed on mediums and punched in a 1m 23.008s. Nobody got near it. The time stood untouched to the chequered flag.
Lewis Hamilton backed him up in second to complete a dream start for Ferrari at their home race, with Mercedes’ George Russell third, three tenths off Leclerc’s benchmark.
Ferrari strike early as rivals blink first
The opening session at 1230 local time began under hot, cloudless skies and a packed circuit, with Ayumu Iwasa leading a train of cars out of the pit lane. Most teams started conservatively on hard tyres, some on mediums, a few gambling early on softs.
Traffic immediately became a storyline. With four rookies in the field, timing and track position mattered. Iwasa, standing in for Max Verstappen at Red Bull, quickly found himself frustrated, complaining over the radio after catching Paul Aron’s Alpine on the racing line.
Russell drew first blood among the frontrunners, firing in a 1m 23.802s to go almost four tenths clear of Lando Norris in the first quarter of the hour. Mercedes looked sharp, the car stable under braking and clean through the chicanes.
Then the session jolted to a halt.
Colton Herta, in for Sergio Perez at Cadillac and on his third outing of the season, was told to stop the car with a suspected hydraulic problem. He pulled over, the yellow flags flew, a Virtual Safety Car was deployed, and eventually the red flag came out as marshals recovered the stricken MAC-26. Herta had managed only five laps; he would not return.
Leclerc’s statement lap
When the track went green again with just over half the session remaining, Norris sat on top with a 1m 23.719s. The tempo climbed quickly. Teams switched to softs to bank some representative laps in the midday heat.
Russell and Kimi Antonelli bolted on the softs for Mercedes and immediately jumped the order, Russell reclaiming P1. It looked like the natural order reasserting itself.
Leclerc tore that up.
On mediums, he threaded the Ferrari through the Lesmos and Ascari with real intent and stopped the clock at 1m 23.008s. A medium-tyre lap, three tenths clear of Russell on softs, and a roar from the grandstands to match. It was the kind of early marker that changes the tone of a weekend.
Behind him, Hamilton began to find rhythm. As the final quarter of the session unfolded and fuel loads dropped, he improved to slot into second, less than two tenths off his team mate but still unable to touch Leclerc’s earlier effort. Antonelli, running a Valentino Rossi-inspired helmet for his home race, kept himself in the mix and held fourth for a spell.
The rookies continued to feature in the radio chatter. Aron again drew criticism, this time from Yuki Tsunoda, who complained about the Estonian blocking his path. With a busy track and a tight programme, tempers flickered.
Lawson impresses, rookies stake their claim
When the dust settled, Leclerc’s time remained unchallenged. Ferrari locked out the top two, Russell ended the hour in third, and Liam Lawson underlined his growing authority in the Red Bull seat with an assured P4.
The New Zealander, contesting his second consecutive weekend as stand-in for the injured Isack Hadjar, looked composed throughout. His presence meant Tsunoda continued in Lawson’s usual Racing Bulls seat, adding another twist to the driver reshuffle.
Antonelli’s strong early work left him fifth, with Norris in sixth for McLaren. Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad delivered an eye-catching run to seventh, ahead of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto. Franco Colapinto put the Alpine into ninth, with Aron rounding out a rookie-heavy top 10.
Oscar Piastri finished 11th for McLaren, followed by Tsunoda and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg. Ollie Bearman, in an upgraded Haas, took 14th, just ahead of Luke Browning, who filled Alex Albon’s seat at Williams.
Carlos Sainz, in the other Williams, ended the session behind Browning, while Iwasa’s traffic-affected running left him further down the order. Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Esteban Ocon’s Haas, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin filled out the lower midfield.
Herta, sidelined by that early stoppage, propped up the times after his brief five-lap cameo.
Ferrari walk away from FP1 with the headlines and, more importantly, a car that looks hooked up on home soil. The rest of the field now has a few precious hours to pick through the data and find answers before Free Practice 2 at 1600 local time asks a blunt question: can anyone really live with Leclerc’s pace around Monza?
