As it happened: 2024 Italian Grand Prix first practice

This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.

That concludes the first practice session, read our full report here.

Colapinto’s been off at Alboreto (Parabolica) – almost repeated Antonelli’s crash but avoided the barrier. A brief yellow flag, that’s withdrawn, but the chequered flag is out now. We’re not going to see any improvements so that means Verstappen is fastest. Esteban Ocon has a bumpy spin at Rettifilo as he goes over the kerb. He and Colapinto end the session with identical times.

Verstappen lowers the best time to a 1’21.676, almost a full second quicker than his session-topping time in this session last year before the track was resurfaced.

Sainz has gone third on softs. Hamilton cuts the Roggia chicane.

Charles Leclerc is the first driver under 82 seconds, a 1’21.904 on softs puts him top of the times. Norris almost matches it seconds later, also on softs, just 13 thousandths of a second slower.

A nervous moment for Carlos Sainz Jnr who twitches wide in Parabolica, touches the gravel trap but avoids Antonelli’s fate.

A decent lap by debutant Franco Colapinto puts him in the top 10:
1. Valtteri Bottas: 1’22.127
2. Lewis Hamilton: 1’22.214
3. Alexander Albon: 1’22.220
4. Lando Norris: 1’22.443
5. Carlos Sainz Jnr: 1’22.511
6. Pierre Gasly: 1’22.763
7. Zhou Guanyu: 1’22.854
8. Sergio Perez: 1’22.872
9. Franco Colapinto: 1’22.880
10. Max Verstappen: 1’22.936

Hamilton restores Mercedes to the top of the times with a 1’22.214 on softs – but Bottas beats it! 1’22.127 for the Sauber.

Valtteri Bottas is now quickest on a 1’22.416 on softs, giving Sauber some encouragement after their dire weekend at Zandvoort. Leclerc gets crossed up at Lesmo 1 and runs wide.

Mercedes were running a comparison between their latest specification floor, introduced at Spa, and the older one, when Antonelli crashed. Antonelli was running the newer floor which Hamilton said after the last race may not be an improvement.

The session resumes, Ricciardo rejoins the track after waving to a child who was watching as he sat at the pit exit.

More than half of the field have taken new engines for this race: Both Mercedes, McLarens, Aston Martins, Saubers and Haas, plus Colapinto at Williams, who has taken over Sargeant’s stock of motors.

The session has obviously been red-flagged while the marshals rescue Russell’s car, which Antonelli was driving.

Dudley: “Are you okay? Are you okay?”
Antonelli: “[Censored by FOM]. Yeah, sorry. [Censored by FOM].”

Antonelli’s crashed! He’s spun into the barrier at Parabolica. He lost the car at the middle of the corner. He’s climbing out of the car.

Antonelli puts up a 1’23.955 on softs. Lando Norris slots in second, four-tenths slower, on mediums. Meanwhile Verstappen bypasses the chicane.

The session has begun and Antonelli has immediately gone out on a set of soft tyres. Formula One Management decided not to follow that moment and instead show Fernando Alonso heading out with a massive aero rig on his Aston Martin.

For comparison, Max Verstappen was fastest in this session last year with a best time of 1’22.657.

“I did my sim session beforehand and it was with the old layout,” said Sergio Perez yesterday. “So it’s going to be interesting to see, and also to see if it changes the approach as well with the downforce. It might push you to go for less now that there is a little bit more grip. It will be interesting also to see what it does with the tyres.”

One key point of interest for this upcoming session will be what difference has been made by the changes to the track since Formula 1 last raced here. The full length of the 5.7-kilometre track has been resurfaced, which should smooth out the worst of its bumps and potentially allow teams to run their cars lower and therefore faster. Several kerbs have also been revised which may allow drivers to take some of the chicanes more aggressively, gaining time. Some drivers even believe the course record could be broken this weekend.

As usual at Monza most teams have brought revised front or rear wings – or both – offering lower drag levels so they can hit higher speeds on the long straights. Expect them to return at the next race in Baku as well. Ferrari has brought more than just its low-drag kit, however: The SF-24s have a completely revised floor and sidepods.

He’s already done many tests in Mercedes’ older F1 cars, but this will be his first run in the W15. “This is going to be an amazing experience for him,” said Hamilton yesterday. “He’s obviously already tested the old car, but tomorrow is going to be the first time he’s, I believe, tested the new car, which is so much nicer than the 2022 car. So he’s going to be all smiles tomorrow for sure. It’s a drastic difference.” Hamilton and Antonelli will drive the session together, the newcomer running George Russell’s car with number 12.

There’s only one practice driver running in this session and they hardly need an introduction at this point. Andrea Kimi Antonelli has had an enormous amount of attention after Mercedes promoted him straight into Formula 2 this year, bypassing Formula 3 – and then learned they would need a new Formula 1 driver next year as Lewis Hamilton is off to Ferrari. As team principal Toto Wolff has seemingly failed in his efforts to lure Max Verstappen away from Red Bull, Antonelli is the hot favourite to get the drive.

First practice for the 2024 Italian Grand Prix is coming up next.

2024 Italian Grand Prix

• Verstappen faces post-race investigation along with five other drivers and McLaren
• Red Bull lose constructors’ championship lead for first time in two years
• “Never had so much pain in a car”: How Colapinto impressed Williams on his debut
• F1’s most competitive season for 47 years? Four teams now have three wins each
• “Can I have my PU performance back?” – Verstappen’s “tough” Monza race on his radio