FP1: Verstappen heads Leclerc during first practice at Monza as Antonelli crashes on debut

Max Verstappen set the pace during first practice ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, while Kimi Antonelli brought out the red flags after suffering a crash on his debut FP1 outing for Mercedes.

Antonelli was not the only newer name joining the fray for the session; Franco Colapinto was behind the wheel of the Williams after it was announced that he would replace Logan Sargeant at the team for the remainder of the season.

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The rookies – and the rest of the pack – were led out by the veteran Fernando Alonso when the hour began in hot and sunny conditions at 1330 local time, and Antonelli was quick to make an impression by going to P1 on the timesheets with his first timed lap on the board.

It was a busy start to the session, with everyone seemingly keen to get a feel for the newly resurfaced tarmac at Monza. But the action soon came to a halt when Antonelli crashed into the barriers at Parabolica 10 minutes in, having suffered a snap midway through the corner.

Fortunately the teenager walked away unharmed, while Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was quick to reassure him over the radio that it was “all good”. The red flags were thrown while the W15 was recovered and the barriers checked, before cars returned to running at 1353 local time.

The times were quick to tumble as the session progressed, with Valtteri Bottas a surprise name in P1 at the halfway point as the track continued to evolve. His effort of 1m 22.127s on the soft tyre put him 0.087s ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second.

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It wasn’t an entirely smooth FP1 as a few drivers had moments. Amongst them was Carlos Sainz, who suffered a slight snap later in the hour but managed to keep his Ferrari on the circuit. “Tricky one,” the Spaniard commented afterwards.

On a weekend where the Scuderia are running upgrades, Charles Leclerc slotted into the top spot as the session entered its final stages before being dislodged by Verstappen, the Red Bull man going fastest on a lap of 1m 21.676s.

This put him 0.228s clear of Leclerc, while Lando Norris – off the back of his dominant victory last time out at Zandvoort – was third for McLaren. Sainz followed in fourth, with Bottas ending the session an impressive fifth for Kick Sauber and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri going sixth quickest.

Hamilton took P7 as Mercedes’ sole runner for much of the hour, ahead of Alex Albon for Williams in P8, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in P9 and Alonso rounding out the top 10 for Aston Martin.

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Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and the RB pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda were 11th, 12th and 13th respectively, in front of Pierre Gasly in the Alpine and Zhou Guanyu’s Kick Sauber in 14th and 15th.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll set the 16th quickest time, while Colapinto took 17th, having avoided beaching his Williams following a trip through the gravel at the end of the session. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg were 18th and 19th, with Ocon having a spin at the tail-end of the session, as Antonelli’s brief running put him down in 20th.

With the first practice hour of the weekend under their belts, the teams and drivers will have the opportunity to debrief and take a breather before returning to the track for second practice at 1700 local time.