FIA race director reveals intentional safety car plan at Italian GP

FIA race director Rui Marques has revealed the safety car plan put in place at this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

On Friday, F1 returned to the storied Monza circuit for the 16th round of the 2025 campaign, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc making a surprise comeback in the first practice session of the weekend.

Come FP2, McLaren were back on top with Lando Norris, as Leclerc and Hamilton remained steady in the top five.

And during both of Friday's practice sessions, the drivers had to be aware that F1's governing body had planned a test involving a virtual safety car prior to the official start of each session.

In the race director's event notes for the Italian GP, a marshalling system test was confirmed for FP1 and FP2, stating: "At the start of both the FP1 and FP2 sessions, when the first car enters the Pit Lane fast lane to proceed on track a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) will be deployed and a double yellow flag will be set in marshalling sectors 1 and 2.

"After 3 cars have entered the track the Double Yellow Flag in marshalling sectors 1 and 2 will be cleared (the VSC shall remain). After a further 3 cars have entered the track the VSC will be cleared (the test will be complete). All drivers must respect the VSC Delta and/or Double Yellow Delta should they encounter it during this test."

FIA on safety car alert after Monza test

F1's governing body successfully ran the tests ahead of Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race.

And if Friday's on-track action is anything to go by, the competitive sessions in Monza this weekend are likely to bring out the virtual and physical safety car.

During FP1, the session was briefly red-flagged when Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar took a trip off-track at the Ascari Chicane.

He was not the only star of the session to end up in the gravel, even if just briefly, with sweepers sent out onto the Italian track to clear the circuit before practice running could continue.

In FP2, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli also ended his Friday in the gravel, losing control going through the second Lesmos and beaching his W16.

The 19-year-old may not be alone in his mistake on Friday after plenty of gravel had been scattered across the track, but Antonelli's error ruled him out of the session entirely and after doing the same thing last weekend at Zandvoort, the Italian youngster will certainly be feeling the pressure come Saturday.

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