Hamilton leads Ferrari one-two in Monza practice

Grand Prix in Italy

Dates: 5-7 September Race start time: 14:00 BST on Sunday

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc got Ferrari’s home race weekend off to a positive start by finishing one-two in first practice at the Grand Prix in Italy.

Briton Hamilton was 0.169 seconds quicker than his team-mate in the race, which has a grid penalty for the race on Sunday.

Leclerc finished third place behind Williams driver Carlos Sainz in 0.364 seconds.

Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli from McLaren and Mercedes’ Max Verstappen finished fourth fastest.

Oscar Piastri, Norris’ teammate, and McLaren protégé Alex Dunne, who drove the car in this first session, share a 34-point championship deficit with Norris.

McLaren believe Norris’ title hopes were hampered by an engine failure at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, which was more a result of McLaren’s fault than a Mercedes engine issue.

Leclerc’s second attempt to complete a lap on soft tires came after he had to cancel his previous two runs.

Leclerc passed a Sauber just after a red flag was thrown due to gravel on the track, despite braking as hard as he could, which caused a second incident.

Stewards immediately reviewed the incident and agreed that he had no choice but to apologize.

Verstappen was 0. 575 seconds off Hamilton, while Alex Albon’s second Williams placed seventh.

Isack Hadjar, a driver for Racing Bulls, ran off track at the Ascari chicane and sprayed the circuit with gravel, leading to the red flag that several drivers ran wide during the session.

Norris had to clear the gravel at the second Lesmo, too.

Fernando Alonso, aston Martin’s fastest driver, was second behind George Russell’s Mercedes in the race to run wide and kick up gravel.

Due to a power failure, Russell was stuck in seventh gear with the rear wheels locked as he ended the session by parking on the grass next to the track before the Roggia chicane.