Leclerc on top as Ferrari take 1-2 in Monza opening practice / Photo: © AFP
Leclerc on top as Ferrari take 1-2 in Monza opening practice
Charles Leclerc topped the times ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari registered a clear 1-2 to dominate Friday's opening practice on home soil at the Italian Grand Prix.
Leclerc, sporting a special livery to celebrate Michael Schumacher's first Monza win 30 years ago, clocked a fastest lap of one minute and 23.008 seconds to outpace the seven-time champion by 0.173sec with Mercedes' George Russell adrift by three-tenths of a second in third.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fifth for Mercedes ahead of McLaren's world champion Lando Norris, but the Briton's team-mate Oscar Piastri came in 11th in the second McLaren.
Ferrari's performance, using upgraded engines, delighted their fans at the historic high-speed circuit with Hamilton hoping to take advantage of Antonelli's engine penalties that will see him start from the back of the grid.
Hamilton and Russell trail the 20-year-old Italian by 59 points in the title race and can trim his lead substantially if he is unable to gain a high points-scoring finish.
Four rookies were in action -- Ayuma Iwasa deputising for Max Verstappen at Red Bull, Luke Browning for Alex Albon at Williams, Paul Aron for Pierre Gasly at Alpine and Colton Herta for Sergio Perez at Cadillac.
As the drivers settled in, the result of the International Court of Appeal relating to the Monaco Grand Prix was announced with McLaren and Red Bull succeeding in overturning the outcome.
This meant that Gasly, who had finished third after an appeal by Alpine, had his post-race penalties reinstated and was replaced in third position by Hadjar and a reshuffled result saw him drop to his original seventh place.
M.Bauer--NRZ
