Formula 1 News: Verstappen tops opening practice for Italian GP

Red Bull Word Driving Champion Max Verstappen sat in the pits much of opening practice for the Italian GP at Monza but came out late in the session to turn a lap of 1m21.676s to top the times.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Verstappen’s fast lap was o.228s faster than the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, deflating the local Italian fans who always want to see Ferrari on top.

On a weekend where the Scuderia were running upgrades, Charles Leclerc slotted into the top spot as the session entered its final stages before being dislodged by Verstappen late.

Lando Norris was third quick in his McLaren, 0.241s behind Verstappen as all the drivers were learning the upgraded Monza circuit that featured new curbs, new tarmac and some reprofiled corners.

Carlos Sainz Jr. was 4th quick in the #55 Ferrari, 0.450s behind Verstappen’s Red Bull Honda.

Valtteri Bottas was a surprising 5th quick for Sauber, 0.451s behind Verstappen.

Lewis 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 Fernando Alonso rounding out the top 10 for Aston Martin.

Related Article: Formula 1 News: 2024 Italian GP at Monza Preview

On a day when all eyes were on 18-year-old Mercedes future star Kimi Antonelli in his first FP1 session it could have not gone any worse.  He went into the Parabolica Curve too fast on his second flying lap, lost control and stuffed his George Russell car into the barriers – his ego thoroughly deflated.

Full footage of Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s crash in FP1!💥#F1 #Formula1 #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/clFb8jHj9S

— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__) August 30, 2024

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.

Another rookie in his first race for Williams Argentinean, Franco Colapinto, replacing the sacked Logan Sargeant, also had an off in Parabolica but kept it off the barriers and ended up 17th. He was not any faster than what Sargeant would have done, but it was his first ever F1 Practice.

A good session for the top teams, but plenty more to come from everyone on a hot and sultry day in Italy. Practice 2 starts at 11:00am ET

2024 Italian GP Practice 1 Results