For Ferrari, first practice at Monza offered the kind of early home-race readout that matters more than the stopwatch alone. Charles Leclerc led Lewis Hamilton by 0.173s, and the bigger point was that Ferrari’s latest upgrades were good enough to put both cars at the front on a Friday when the team was looking for proof, not optimism.
Leclerc’s best lap of 1:23.008s made him the fastest driver in the session, with Hamilton close behind in second. That alone will please Ferrari after it chose Monza to deploy its second permitted engine upgrade of the season, especially given the backdrop that its power unit had been measured as inferior to those produced by Red Bull and Mercedes. A one-two in first practice does not settle anything, but it does suggest the package has given Ferrari a more competitive baseline at the circuit where it most wanted a clean start.
Why the first session mattered
The significance of the result is not just that Ferrari went quickest at home. It is that the team did so with a car that had arrived under scrutiny and left the session looking capable of mixing at the top end of the field. In that sense, Monza gave Ferrari an early return on its decision to bring the upgrade here rather than wait for another weekend. It also put Leclerc in the familiar role of setting the pace when the pressure is highest.
Hamilton’s presence near the top only sharpened the picture. Ferrari did not merely rely on one standout lap; it locked out the top two places and created the sort of headline start that can shape a race weekend. That does not mean the competitive order is fixed, and it certainly does not answer every question about race pace, but it does show Ferrari found something useful ahead of qualifying at 3pm on Saturday.
Elsewhere, the session carried a reminder that not every weekend turns on pure one-lap speed. Kimi Antonelli will start from the back of the grid on Sunday after exceeding his allowance of engine parts for the season, so his qualifying position will not change that reality. In that case, the more relevant question is not where he lines up on Saturday, but how he manages the race once the penalty is already in place.
There was also a separate Friday setback for Colton Herta, whose chance to drive for Cadillac was cut short by a technical issue. And over the sport’s summer break, Isack Hadjar injured his wrist, another interruption in a season that has already asked plenty of drivers and teams to adapt quickly.
For Ferrari, though, the immediate story is simpler. Monza is where it chose to bring its second engine upgrade, Monza is where it wanted confirmation, and Monza is where Leclerc and Hamilton gave it the strongest possible opening statement. The real test still comes in qualifying and Sunday’s race, but first practice suggested Ferrari’s home gamble has at least put it in the conversation.
