Italy – EL1: Verstappen in control, Antonelli at fault

On a completely resurfaced tarmac, with flattened kerbs and a widened first corner, the drivers initially suffered from a major lack of grip, the time to put rubber on this new tarmac. Under a seasonal sun and on a track that has improved massively over the course of the passes, it is Max Verstappen who set the best time in Free Practice 1, ahead of the Ferrari de Charles Leclerc and McLaren de Lando Norris.

The Dutchman remained stuck in the second half of the table, until he set up his car perfectly in the last ten minutes. The Dutchman, who had taken a slap at home last week by finishing more than twenty seconds behind Lando Norris, therefore starts his weekend ideally, with a 2/10ths margin on the fiercest competition.

At home, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari are pretty much in the running, with the Monegasque and the Spaniard in 2nd and 4th place. If the little prince of Monaco is ahead of his teammate, the Madrilenian seemed to have the advantage until he lost the car slightly in the parabolic twenty minutes from the end. Charles, for his part, despite a nice time, complained about his car twice, especially during deceleration phases.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, probable future starter at Mercedes in 2025, he rode for the first time on a race weekend F1 during FP1. The Italian's performance lasted only thirteen minutes, due to losing the rear of his W15 at the entrance to the parabolic, leading to a violent crash. Before that, the 18-year-old driver had signed a competitive first lap, and had just lit up the second sector in purple. Perhaps he was surprised by the new tarmac, which lacked grip. Toto wolff, on the radio, immediately reassured him. George Russell, the car's owner, was more worried...

RED FLAG 🚩

Andrea Kimi Antonelli loses the Mercedes in his 2nd lap 😯
The young pilot is doing well ✅#ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/qaRlJ1a2eo

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) August 30, 2024

Kimi Antonelli was on the new floor, when Lewis Hamilton was on the old one. It will be reversed between the two cars in FP2, as originally planned. Hamilton will have the new floor while Russell will have the old one. The Italian's crash has no immediate sporting consequences for Mercedes, since the team brought spare parts. It remains to be seen whether Russell will have his car repaired or not in FP2.

Note the good session of Valtteri Bottas, leading the timesheet for a good half hour, before finally finishing 5th. Alex Albon, as often at Monza, shone with an 8th place, while Fernando Alonso took 10th place. For his first weekend as a starter, Franco Colapinto had a good first session, despite a small alert in the parabolic at the end of the session. The Argentinian finished 17th, 7/10ths behind Alex Albon and continues his learning in view of the qualification scheduled for Saturday at 16 p.m. See you for FP3 at 17 p.m. this Friday.

More info to follow…

ALSO READ > VIDEO – Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s accident in free practice