Charles Leclerc Dominates Monza Practice with Stunning Lap
Charles Leclerc lit up Monza in first practice, topping the timesheets with a lap that looked and sounded like a statement. On medium tyres, in the heat of the early afternoon, the Ferrari driver clocked a 1m 23.008s that nobody could touch, leading a Ferrari 1-2 ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton and leaving Mercedes’ George Russell third.
The time came at the point in the hour when most of the field had bolted on softs for their first serious qualifying simulations. Leclerc stayed on the yellow-marked mediums and still went quicker. Around here, in front of the Tifosi, that matters.
Ferrari strike first in front of the Tifosi
The session began at 1230 local time under hot, cloudless skies, Ayumu Iwasa leading a long train of cars out of the pit lane. Most chose the hard compound for their opening runs, some the medium, a few the soft, but the pattern was clear: everyone wanted track time on a busy, evolving surface.
Traffic bit early. Iwasa, stepping into Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, found Paul Aron’s Alpine parked on the racing line and complained over the radio. He was not alone. The four rookies sprinkled through the field – Iwasa, Luke Browning in Alex Albon’s Williams, Aron in Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Colton Herta in place of Cadillac’s Sergio Perez – had to learn Monza’s rhythm while dodging established names already on the limit.
Russell set the first proper marker, a 1m 23.802s on softs that put him nearly four tenths clear of Lando Norris and briefly looked like the time to beat. Then the session jolted to a halt.
Herta’s Cadillac rolled to a stop out on circuit with what the team suspected was a hydraulic problem. He was told to park the car; yellow flags flew, a Virtual Safety Car followed, and then the red flag came out as marshals moved the stranded MAC-26. Herta’s day effectively ended there: five laps, no representative time, and last on the sheet.
Leclerc’s lap stands tall
When the track went green again with just over half an hour remaining, Norris sat on top with a 1m 23.719s. The field poured back out, and this time the soft tyres began to appear in earnest. Mercedes sent both Russell and Kimi Antonelli on the red-walled compound for their first flying efforts.
Russell responded as expected, reclaiming P1. The lap did not last.
Leclerc, still on mediums, delivered his 1m 23.008s and ripped three tenths out of the Mercedes. It was the kind of lap that makes a grandstand erupt, and it did. The Ferrari jumped clear, Hamilton slotted into third, Antonelli – wearing a Valentino Rossi-inspired helmet for his home race – took fourth, and Russell suddenly looked vulnerable.
Tension in traffic never eased. Aron again found himself in the crosshairs, this time from Yuki Tsunoda, who vented on the radio after finding the Estonian in his way. With so many cars on track and rookies juggling procedures, the final quarter of the session became a test of patience as much as pace.
Hamilton, though, found enough clear air. The seven-time champion improved late on and climbed to second, less than two tenths down on Leclerc to complete a Ferrari 1-2 on home soil.
Lawson impresses, rookies crowd the spotlight
Behind the front three, Liam Lawson quietly pieced together a strong session. On his second consecutive weekend in the Red Bull, standing in for the injured Isack Hadjar, the New Zealander ended up fourth, three tenths off Leclerc and ahead of Antonelli and Norris.
Lawson’s presence kept the driver reshuffle going. His promotion meant Tsunoda once again stepped into Lawson’s usual Racing Bulls seat, while Arvid Lindblad took the other Racing Bulls car and made it count with seventh place.
The top 10 carried a distinctly fresh feel. After Norris in sixth and Lindblad in seventh came Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto in the Alpine and Aron, who, despite the radio complaints aimed his way, still delivered enough pace for P10.
Oscar Piastri missed the top 10 by a fraction, finishing 11th for McLaren ahead of Tsunoda and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg. Ollie Bearman, in an upgraded Haas, took 14th, showing promising speed in the midfield fight.
Browning, on his first official outing in the Williams, ended the hour in 15th, just ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz in the other Williams entry. Behind them came Iwasa, Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.
Herta’s early stoppage left him anchored to the bottom of the classification, his five laps a frustrating contrast to the mileage logged by the rest.
Early markers laid down
When the chequered flag fell, Leclerc’s medium-tyre benchmark still sat untouched at the top. Ferrari had a 1-2, Mercedes had both cars in the top three, and a pack of hungry rookies had left clear fingerprints all over the timesheets.
The numbers will be pulled apart and interrogated before Free Practice 2 at 1600 local time. The question now is simple: was this just an early roar from Ferrari, or the first sign that Monza might belong to the red cars again?
