We are back at the Temple of Speed for the Italian Grand Prix! By the end of the session, the track temperature was at 53 degrees celsius. Home of Ferrari, the question on everyone’s mind: can Ferrari deliver for the Tifosi?
Track, grandstands, mountains 👌#F1 #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/hBbITEw2uF
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 4, 2026
Short answer: Yes. Charles Leclerc topped the times with a 1:23.008, set on medium tyres. Lewis Hamilton was 0.173 behind his teammate on a set of mediums. The Ferrari’s showed strong pace in this practice session in front of Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull.
Four rookies ran in FP1
We saw four rookies step up into F1 machinery in FP1. We had Paul Aron in for Pierre Gasly at Alpine. Luke Browning replaced Alex Albon in the Williams, Ayumu Iwasa stepped in for Max Verstappen, and Colton Herta stepped in for Sergio Perez at Cadillac.
Herta had a high-impact crash in F2 and jumped into the Cadillac for Perez. He later brought out a Red Flag as he had to stop his car on track, and marshals needed to recover the car.
We have a Virtual Safety Car
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 4, 2026
Colton Herta, in Sergio Perez's Cadillac for this session, has stopped at the side of the track#F1 #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/M3PDUoZffp
The finishing order for the rookies was Aron, Browning, Iwasa and Herta.
Traffic and weaving
Managing traffic and weaving on the straights might be the major concern for this weekend. Several drivers were complaining about drivers weaving on the straights and ruining laps. This is something to keep an eye out for during Qualifying.
First Chicane
The First Chicane will be interesting to watch on Saturday and Sunday as drivers are going wide. Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz decided to follow Kimi Antonelli through the first chicane runoff area. Ollie Bearman also went wide on one of his runs. This could be an interesting corner to watch on Sunday when the five red lights go off.
Cutting the corner at the first chicane! 😮
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 4, 2026
First Antonelli, then Norris, followed by Sainz #F1 #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/wOXoRN7OV5
Top 10 Classification
Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell, Lawson, Antonelli, Norris, Lindblad, Bortoleto, Colapinto and Aron
Formula One will return to the track later today for FP2 at 16:30 local time.