When we think of Monza, we tend to think of a few things: high speed, historic podiums, and Ferrari. There’s no escaping the sea of red Tifosi in the grandstands this weekend, and Ferrari will be feeling the pressure at their home circuit this weekend.
Finding the limits
Free Practice 1 allowed the teams and drivers to find the limits of the track and understand how they might perform in Sunday’s race. Many drivers were seen rocking the neon yellow flow vis on their cars, such as Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Being on the fastest circuit on the calendar, understanding how the cars handle the high speeds and downforce is vital.
Paul Aron, driving Franco Colapinto’s Alpine, was the first this weekend to suffer a spin on the entry to turn 4. The reserve driver was able to get his car going again and seemingly suffered no damage to the car.
Turn 1 also caught out many drivers in this session. Some not able to fully make the turn opted for cutting the corner across the gravel trap, including Charles Leclerc and Bortaletto. Norris, however, took the correct route down the escape road.
With 24 minutes remaining in the session, the red flag was waved. Hadjar took his VCarb across the gravel, scattering a considerable amount of it across the track. The corner needed to be cleared, so the session was stopped. The Frenchman took a lot of speed into the corner and was lucky to retain control of the car.
Home Race for Antonelli
Kimi Antonelli will find this weekend special for two reasons. Not only is this his home race, but it is also the anniversary of his F1 debut. Last season Kimi stepped into the Mercedes car for Monza FP1, leading to his his full-term seat.
This session for Kimi was seemingly nothing of concern for Mercedes. Free practice 1 does not often produce the fastest laps of the weekend, so the Italian rookie finishing the session in P5 isn’t too concerning. He, like many drivers, fell victim to turn 1, locking up across the corner and gravel.
He will hope for a good result this weekend in front of his home crowd. His teammate George Russell unfortunately suffered a dramatic end to the session, stopping on the side of the track having lost drive.
Welcome to Italy, Hamilton!
Monza will always be the home of Ferrari, and while Charles Leclerc is used to this love, it’s a first for Lewis Hamilton. He spoke during Thursday’s press conference about how special this weekend is to him and the team. The car carries a tribute livery this weekend to Niki Lauda.
Hamilton had a good session in his Ferrari. Onboard footage suggests he is finding the car good to drive. He and his teammate both delighted the Tifosi spectating with laps quick enough to put them in P1 and P2. A Ferrari 1-2 at Monza is always the goal, and the duo will likely also be hoping for that result.
Lewis is yet to achieve a podium finish this season, so finishing FP1 in P1 will be a confidence booster for the Brit. He will carry a 5-place grid penalty on Sunday carried over from the Dutch GP. However, the team will hope for anything better than their tragic double DNF last weekend.
Can Ferrari continue this dominance over the weekend?