Formula 1 returned to Monza on Friday afternoon, with the opening practice session for the Italian Grand Prix giving fans their first glimpse of how the weekend could unfold.
Under blue skies at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, all 20 cars headed out within the first five minutes, keen to gather data at the sport’s most famous high-speed venue.
Two teams handed their reserve drivers opportunities in FP1. At McLaren, Alex Dunne took over Oscar Piastri’s car, while Alpine fielded Paul Aron in place of Franco Colapinto. For both, the session was about mileage and experience, rather than chasing lap times.
Liam Lawson was among the first to register a lap, clocking a 1:24.341 on the hard tyre. It was enough to put him ahead of Kimi Antonelli, Dunne, Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, and Oliver Bearman, who were all running on the slightly quicker medium compound but still bringing their tyres up to temperature.
The first representative flying laps came from Max Verstappen, then Lewis Hamilton, before Charles Leclerc set the benchmark at 1:22.021 for Ferrari.
Isack Hadjar impressed initially, going fourth fastest on hards, but was quickly shuffled back as Verstappen and Lawson moved ahead. Lawson briefly held fourth, a tenth quicker than Verstappen despite being on a slower tyre.
As the session developed, Norris went top with a 1:21.513, only for Alex Albon to snatch P1 for Williams with a 1:21.479, also on the hard compound. Hadjar stayed in touch, going fifth fastest, about four-tenths off Albon’s pace.
Verstappen answered with a 1:21.166, three tenths clear of the field, before Albon reclaimed top spot with a 1:21.073 after a strong middle sector. But Verstappen again had the measure of the pack, lowering the benchmark to 1:20.751 and stamping his authority on the session.
Not everything was running smoothly. Gasly was left frustrated after Sainz sat on the racing line on an outlap, accusing the Williams’ driver of blocking him.
“Yeah, that’s not fair from Sainz. Always the same guy,” the Frenchman fumed over the radio, waving his hand in frustration as he passed.
In the Red Bull camp, Tsunoda struggled for pace in the early stages, sitting more than a second adrift of Verstappen before reducing the gap to eight-tenths midway through the session.
With Helmut Marko publicly setting a deadline for him to improve his performance by the Mexican Grand Prix, the Japanese driver faces mounting pressure.
Norris also had a ragged moment on his first lap on the soft tyres, running through the gravel at both Lesmo corners before aborting the lap.
Soon after, Hadjar ran wide at the Ascari chicane, bouncing heavily and dragging a large amount of gravel back onto the track. His Racing Bulls car sustained floor damage, forcing the team into hurried repairs while the session was briefly red-flagged.
With 18 minutes to go, the green flag waved again. Lawson returned to the track on soft tyres, while the Ferraris turned up the pace.
Leclerc delighted the home fans with a 1:20.286, going four tenths faster than Verstappen’s earlier benchmark. Moments later, Hamilton slotted into third, then pieced together a stronger lap on the soft compound to go fastest overall with a 1:20.117. That left Ferrari sitting 1-2 in front of their home supporters as the clock ticked down.
Hadjar rejoined with seven minutes left after his repairs, though his running was limited.
As for Lawson, his final effort on soft tyres left him just over a second adrift of Hamilton, but within half a tenth of Hadjar, albeit on different tyre strategies, as Hadjar’s best had come on hards.
The session ended under a brief Virtual Safety Car when George Russell pulled over with a power issue, bringing Mercedes’ afternoon to an early close.
Hamilton’s 1:20.117 held firm at the top, with Leclerc 0.169s behind and Sainz in third, half a second off his teammate.
Verstappen slotted into fourth, just ahead of Antonelli in fifth. Norris, Albon, Russell, Alonso, and Hadjar rounded out the top ten.
Lawson finished 13th, +1.084s off Hamilton, and less than half a tenth off his Racing Bulls teammate despite the disrupted session.
The Kiwi showed solid early pace, though his soft-tyre run was not fully representative as the compound proved slower to switch on compared with the mediums and hards.
FP1 – Top 10
- Hamilton – 1:20.117 (Soft)
- Leclerc +0.169 (Soft)
- Sainz +0.533 (Soft)
- Verstappen +0.575 (Soft)
- Antonelli +0.823 (Soft)
- Norris +0.904 (Soft)
- Albon +0.956 (Hard)
- Russell +0.993 (Soft)
- Alonso +0.997 (Soft)
- Hadjar +1.041 (Hard)
Lawson vs Hadjar FP1 Recap:
For Lawson, FP1 at Monza was a session of steady progress rather than headline times, but the Kiwi still managed to underline his competitiveness in the Racing Bulls camp.
Lawson’s first flying lap on the hard compound was a 1:24.341, which initially placed him ahead of several established names, including Antonelli, Ocon, Norris, Tsunoda, and Bearman.
His pace relative to the medium-shod runners was particularly encouraging, showing he could extract performance quickly from the slower tyre.
As the session unfolded, Lawson climbed from 14th up to 7th at one stage, just under six tenths off Verstappen and within two tenths of his teammate Hadjar.
Lawson eventually finished the session in 13th, with a best time 1.084s behind Hamilton’s benchmark and less than half a tenth shy of Hadjar’s effort.
The comparison between the Racing Bulls drivers was complicated by tyre strategy and Hadjar’s shortened session.
Hadjar’s fastest lap came on the hard tyre before his session was interrupted by floor damage at the Ascari chicane, while Lawson’s final runs were on the softs. This compound proved tricky to switch on and slower to peak than the mediums and hards.
Even so, the margins between the pair remain slim. For Lawson, the session provided an opportunity to gather valuable data and maintain his reputation as a consistent and reliable performer, whereas Hadjar’s off-track excursion resulted in limited running.
With both drivers under scrutiny as part of Red Bull’s ongoing evaluation for 2026, the intra-team battle will remain one to watch closely over the rest of the weekend.
Header Image: Formula 1 via X
