Overview

• McLaren confirmed that Alex Dunne will drive in Friday’s first practice at the Italian Grand Prix, with championship leader Oscar Piastri standing down for the session.
• Dunne, 19, impressed on his debut at the Austrian GP by finishing fourth in FP1, only 0.069s off Piastri’s time after taking Lando Norris’s car.
• A member of McLaren’s driver development programme, Dunne is contesting F2 with Rodin Motorsport and sits fifth in the standings with two feature wins this season.
• Alpine will field reserve Paul Aron in FP1 at Monza in place of Franco Colapinto, marking Aron’s first practice run with Alpine after earlier FP1 outings this year with Sauber.
• FIA rules require two FP1 rookie appearances per car each season; McLaren has also scheduled Pato O’Ward for an FP1 run in Mexico City, with another rookie slot still to be allocated later in the year.