Monza Free Practice 1: Leclerc ahead of Hamilton, Antonelli P5, Verstappen a spectator

Ferrari star Charles Leclerc had this to say about Monza: “We used to have almost a new car for the Monza specification, with a good hundred changes. That’s no longer the case today, because we’re talking about a completely different generation of racing cars.”

Nevertheless, the list of new parts – which has been confirmed by the teams and the FIA – has become quite long: McLaren with a swivelling wing in the style of Ferrari’s (called the ‘H-wing’ by the British team) and a modified underbody. Mercedes with a more aerodynamic rear wing and an optimised rear-view mirror mount.

New at Red Bull Racing: front wing end plates, exhaust tailpipe support, start of the floor panel, and rear suspension fairing.

Ferrari has introduced Monza-specific modifications, all aimed at reducing aerodynamic drag: rear wing, rear brake ventilation, rear-view mirror mount and underbody. And, of course, the special Schumacher livery in the style of 1996.

Speaking of Schumi: Charles Leclerc is sporting a helmet in bright red, just like Michael used to wear, whilst Lewis Hamilton sticks with bright yellow.

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Monza: 2. Freies Training

FIA Formula One World Championship

04.09.2026 - 15:45

Fernando Alonso also sported unusual helmet colours: with his gold and red scheme, he paid tribute to his compatriot and early mentor Adrián Campos, who passed away in 2021.

Williams features an optimised Halo crash bar fairing, a new underbody and a different front wing. The Racing Bulls have a new swivelling rear wing (the Italians call it ‘liscio’, meaning smooth) and a new exhaust tailpipe support (as they use the same Red Bull-Ford engine as Red Bull Racing).

Aston Martin features a modified front suspension fairing and a different underbody. Haas has updates to the underbody, sidepods, engine cover and rear suspension fairing. Noteworthy: Ferrari’s upgraded engine is fitted only to the Haas car driven by Ferrari protégé Oliver Bearman. Furthermore, Alpine has optimised end plates on the front wing and a more aerodynamically efficient rear wing.

No new parts from Audi or Cadillac for the Monza weekend.

At 30.3 degrees (with the track at 50.3 degrees), the action got underway in the Royal Park, featuring four Friday drivers – Japan’s Ayumu Iwasa in Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing car, England’s Luke Browning in Alex Albon’s Williams, Estonia’s Paul Aron in Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, and the American Colton Herta in regular driver Sergio Pérez’s Cadillac.

IndyCar star Herta’s preparations were less than ideal: he crashed during Formula 2 practice in the second Lesmo bend.

As a reminder: New Zealander Liam Lawson will be in the second Red Bull Racing car alongside Verstappen, just as he was at Zandvoort; regular driver Isack Hadjar from Paris is still recovering from a broken wrist. His start in Madrid, a week after Monza, remains uncertain.

After just a few minutes, Ferrari driver Leclerc was already in the lead, to applause from the stands. Of course, it didn’t last long, but a Ferrari up front is always a treat for the Tifosi.

Many cars were fitted with data acquisition systems, as if we were at a winter test. Nevertheless, Alpine driver Aron managed to get in the way of the Japanese driver Iwasa. Ayumu was baffled over the radio: “Oh, what’s he doing there?”

After 10 minutes, Mercedes driver Russell briefly went off the track; the Mercedes mechanics checked the underbody of the car.

The standings after a quarter of an hour: Russell, Norris, Lawson, Piastri, Hamilton, Leclerc (who also briefly went off the track at Turn 5), Antonelli.

After 20 minutes, it was all over for Colton Herta: the American had to pull his Cadillac over to the side (suspected hydraulic failure), of all places right by the spot where he’d crashed in F2 at Lesmo 2. There was even a red flag as Herta’s car had to be towed to safety, whilst the clock ticked on relentlessly. Racing resumed at 12.56.

Kimi Antonelli is the first Italian Formula 1 driver to arrive at Monza as championship leader since – Alberto Ascari in 1953!

Kimi opted for soft tyres: a new fastest lap. But his Mercedes team-mate George Russell was even faster.

Charles Leclerc (on medium-hard Pirelli tyres) wasn’t about to let that stand: first place, three tenths faster than Russell.

Paul Aron continued to make no new friends: he was weaving in front of Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls), then cut him off into the Parabolica. The Japanese driver on the radio: “What on earth is he doing?”

A final flourish from Ferrari: Hamilton moved up to second place behind leader Leclerc. As far as the Tifosi are concerned, that’s fine as it is.