Ferrari suits up at home in Monza: Leclerc and Hamilton top FP1

With the sun beating down over Lombardy 30°C in the air and the tarmac pushing 50°C Formula 1’s most emotional weekend of the year got underway. And it started well for the home team: Charles Leclerc set the pace in the opening practice session with a 1:23.008, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.172s. A Ferrari one two at Monza, with the Scuderia running a special livery paying tribute to Michael Schumacher. It’s hard to imagine a more calculated way to fire up the Temple of Speed crowd.

Does any of this actually mean something? Not really. It’s Friday, fuel loads differ, tyre compounds differ, and more than one team didn’t bother showing its full hand. But as an emotional thermometer, it works. And at Ferrari’s home race, that thermometer was running hot.

Behind the Ferraris, a Mercedes surprise

George Russell finished third at +0.304, right behind the two red cars. Liam Lawson came in fourth at +0.425, still filling in at Red Bull while Isack Hadjar continues recovering from the injury he picked up over the summer break. Kimi Antonelli was fifth at +0.636 racing at home, since he’s Italian, but heading into the weekend already knowing he’ll start from the back of the grid due to engine component changes. He leads the championship by 59 points over Russell and Hamilton, so the penalty won’t move the season’s needle much, though it probably takes some shine off the home celebration.

The top ten was rounded out by Norris (+0.711), Lindblad (+0.794), Bortoleto (+0.958), Colapinto, and Aron. Oscar Piastri, coming off wins in Hungary and Zandvoort and chasing a third straight victory, just missed the cut in P11. Nothing unusual for a Friday, but it’s worth asking whether McLaren held something back or simply hasn’t found the right window at Monza, a track that punishes cars differently than the rest of the calendar.

Colapinto, fewer laps than expected

Franco Colapinto finished ninth in his Alpine, 1.020s off Leclerc. The interesting part isn’t the position, it’s the lap count: just 18, noticeably fewer than most of the field. Worth checking whether he lost time in the pits or ran into a technical issue, because the result itself isn’t bad for a team still stuck outside the top fight.

What did stir things up on track was the back and forth between Yuki Tsunoda and Paul Aron, the Estonian rookie filling in for Pierre Gasly. Tsunoda was visibly annoyed at Aron’s reluctance to commit fully through Parabolica, and a stewards’ reprimand wouldn’t be a surprise. Friction like this between rookies and race-regulars during free practice happens more often than people realize it just rarely makes headlines.

Four rookies, one red flag, and a clock that doesn’t wait

The session had its share of storylines: Ayumu Iwasa stepped in for Max Verstappen at Red Bull (finished 17th), Colton Herta took over the Cadillac from Checo Pérez, Luke Browning drove Alex Albon’s Williams (15th), and Aron, as mentioned, filled in for Gasly. Herta had the roughest time of all just 5 laps completed and +6.914s off Leclerc, a clear sign the car issue was serious, not a minor scare.

There was a red flag at some point during the hour, more or less unavoidable with the Cadillac stranded on track. And since Monza’s regulations keep the clock running through red flags, the stoppage didn’t hand anyone extra time.

FP2 gets underway at 3:00 PM local time, with more long run data and a clearer picture of where each team actually stands. Ferrari showed its teeth at home. The question now is whether that smile holds until Sunday.

FP1 — Italian GP 2026, Monza

Do you think Ferrari can keep this pace up through qualifying, or is this just home-track magic? Let us know in the comments.

Sources: Motorsport (ES), Motorsport (IT/autoracer.it), Infobae, PaddockNews24, Pit Debrief, Formula1, ESPN Africa