F1 Results Today: Ferrari dominate at Monza to start crucial weekend for 2026 championship

Ferrari started off their home race weekend in perfect style on Friday at Monza, sitting first and second on the timing sheets in FP1.

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time of the first hour of running, a tenth and a half ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton – both on medium tyres – and three tenths ahead of George Russell in third, with Liam Lawson going fourth in the Red Bull.

The resurgent McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri sat sixth and 11th, with teams presumably running divergent engine modes as their start their ramp-up into the weekend.

There were a couple of driver swaps early on Friday – not just Lawson replacing the injured Isack Hadjar and himself being replaced at Racing Bulls by Yuki Tsunoda, but also Ayumu Iwasa stepping in for Max Verstappen, Paul Aron in for Pierre Gasly, Luke Browning in for Alex Albon and Colton Herta in for Sergio Perez.

All but one of those drivers had reasonably quiet sessions, but Herta's disastrous first season after leaving IndyCar continued when his borrowed Cadillac developed a hydraulic issue after barely 15 minutes of the session – forcing him to park up at the side of the track, bringing out a brief red flag.

That disappointment compounded a dreadful first day at Monza for the American driver, who had hit the wall hard coming out of the second Lesmo corner in F2 practice earlier in the day.

F1 HEADLINES: Lewis Hamilton stuns at Monza as Leclerc confirms Ferrari exit talks

Italian Grand Prix FP1 times

Is there F1 today?

FP2 is next up on Friday, September 4 at 16:00 (local time) and 15:00 (BST). To read the complete breakdown of the times and how to watch in select locations click here.

READ MORE: Monaco Grand Prix result changed AGAIN as F1 star loses podium

READ MORE: Charles Leclerc confirms Ferrari exit talks as F1 star honest about 'other opportunities'

Written by

Chris Deeley - Editor

View full biography

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton stuns at Monza as Leclerc confirms Ferrari exit talks

• 3 hours ago

Kimi Antonelli set for ANOTHER engine penalty this season in Lewis Hamilton title boost

• 3 hours ago

Charles Leclerc confirms Ferrari exit talks with F1 star honest about 'other opportunities'

• Today 08:59

F1 2026 Italian Grand Prix weather forecast - latest from Monza after heat hazard declared

• 1 hour ago

Ferrari F1 star Lewis Hamilton admits he has given up trying to learn Italian

• Yesterday 21:44

F1 News Today: Ferrari confirm Hamilton and Leclerc peace talks as key figure leaves Maranello

• Yesterday 16:20