F1 2022 results: Italian Grand Prix – First Practice session
An Italian flag is laid across the Monza track as podium celebrations take place. Italy, September 2021.
Ferrari gave their tifosi a one-two finish to kick off the Italian Grand Prix weekend, Charles Leclerc leading the way.
Less than a tenth of a second split Leclerc and his team-mate Carlos Sainz, the latter set to drop 25 places on the grid after a group of power unit-related penalties were issued.
Mercedes occupied P3 and P4, George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while it was P5 for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was unable to deliver a clean push lap on the soft tyres.
Verstappen also faces a grid drop of five places.
There was a sombre mood around the Formula 1 paddock after the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.
Formula 1 took the decision that the Italian Grand Prix weekend would go ahead, with all members of the paddock impeccably observing a minute’s silence ahead of the opening practice session.
Onboard footage of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull early in the session showed a very flimsy upper rear wing flap when DRS was open, an issue Red Bull have encountered before. The team told him not to activate DRS while they looked into the issue.
And before the session was even 10 minutes old, Pierre Gasly was told to bring his AlphaTauri back to the pits, though less than another 10 minutes had passed before he was back out there.
Verstappen meanwhile was setting the early pace in his Red Bull RB18, but once Leclerc had the soft rubber bolted onto his Ferrari he set the new standard on a 1:22.4 as the session reached halfway.
Verstappen was heavily compromised by his buddy Lando Norris as he looked to respond on the soft tyres.
After that, Verstappen did not make another attempt, Leclerc topping the session ahead of team-mate Sainz.
Full FP1 standings
1 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:22.410 24 laps
2 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:22.487 +0.077s 22
3 George Russell MERCEDES 1:22.689 +0.279s 26
4 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:22.831 +0.421s 23
5 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING 1:22.840 +0.430s 26
6 Esteban Ocon ALPINE 1:23.075 +0.665s 27
7 Fernando Alonso ALPINE 1:23.099 +0.689s 25
8 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI 1:23.260 +0.850s 25
9 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO 1:23.394 +0.984s 26
10 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN 1:23.511 +1.101s 25
11 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS 1:23.529 +1.119s 23
12 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO 1:23.570 +1.160s 27
13 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI 1:23.640 +1.230s 26
14 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING 1:23.661 +1.251s 20
15 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN 1:23.688 +1.278s 27
16 Lando Norris MCLAREN 1:23.856 +1.446s 26
17 Kevin Magnussen HAAS 1:24.006 +1.596s 23
18 Antonio Giovinazzi HAAS 1:24.317 +1.907s 24
19 Nyck De Vries ASTON MARTIN 1:24.731 +2.321s 22
20 Nicholas Latifi WILLIAMS 1:24.941 +2.531s 23
