Hamilton leads Ferrari 1-2 in Monza opener as pace offsets looming grid drop

Italian Grand Prix FP1 Practice Report

Lewis Hamilton set the early benchmark at Monza on his Ferrari Italian Grand Prix debut, heading teammate Charles Leclerc in a commanding 1-2 for the Scuderia in Friday’s opening practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza’s Temple of Speed.

Hamilton, who on Thursday labeled his first campaign in red an "emotional rollercoaster," will carry a five-place grid penalty into Sunday’s race for a yellow-flag infringement at the previous round in the Netherlands. Even so, Ferrari’s speed in FP1 at the Temple of Speed offered the seven-time champion genuine encouragement as he hunts his first Ferrari podium at the Italian Grand Prix.

Leclerc trailed Hamilton by 0.169 seconds to underline Ferrari’s home advantage in Monza practice, with Carlos Sainz an impressive third for Williams, 0.533 seconds off the top. Max Verstappen slotted in fourth for Red Bull, while home favorite Kimi Antonelli took fifth in the Mercedes ahead of Lando Norris in the McLaren, rounding out a competitive top six in the Italian GP practice results.

The session ended under a cloud for George Russell, who pulled off with an apparent engine failure in the closing minutes, triggering a premature finish to the hour and capping a frustrating FP1 for Mercedes at Monza.

Hamilton, 40, has endured a turbulent first year with Ferrari and arrived in Italy after crashing out in Zandvoort. Before the summer break in Hungary, he described himself as "useless" and even urged Ferrari to replace him after qualifying 12th and finishing in the same spot. Out-qualified by Leclerc 11 times since his switch from Mercedes, Hamilton rolled back the years on Friday to lay down a marker in FP1 for the remainder of the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

Norris’ title bid took a hit with his late engine failure in Zandvoort, leaving him 34 points behind Oscar Piastri with nine rounds to go in the Formula 1 championship standings. The Briton ran wide through the gravel at Lesmo 1 and ended up nearly nine tenths down on Hamilton in the Monza practice times.

Piastri watched from the garage as Irish driver Alex Dunne stepped in for one of his allotted rookie practice outings. Dunne was 16th, 1.4 seconds off the pace in his FP1 appearance, with Piastri set to return to the McLaren later on Friday for continued Italian GP practice running.

Second practice is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. BST), with FP2 set to provide further clues about Ferrari’s race pace and Hamilton’s prospects of overcoming his grid penalty at Monza.

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