Overview
- Friday's first practice session at Monza saw Charles Leclerc fastest and Lewis Hamilton second, with both cars running Ferrari's new Aduo2 power unit.
- The Aduo2 showed a clear pace advantage on Monza's long straights and produced no obvious reliability issues during FP1.
- Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli ran a race-focused program and placed fifth in FP1 but will begin the Grand Prix from the last grid slot because he fitted a fifth power unit this season.
- FP1 also featured driver changes and a brief interruption when Max Verstappen sat out and Red Bull used Ayumu Iwasa, while Colton Herta stopped with a technical fault that caused a short red flag.
- Monza's layout favors engine power, so Ferrari's upgrade could change race strategy and make Antonelli's required comeback more difficult but not impossible given his FP1 race pace.