Carlos Sainz P2, Charles Leclerc P4 in first practice at Monza – Ferrari FP1 report | 2023 Italian GP. Ferrari FP1 report.

Here is the full transcript of our report from the first free practice session for the 2023 Italian Grand Prix:

The start of September. Late summer. The end of F1’s European season. It all means one thing – Monza.

The Temple of Speed. The Italian Grand Prix.

No venue has staged more F1 grands prix than Monza and, while the track in the Royal Park on the outskirts of Milan has had to change for safety reasons over the decades with its famous banking now a relic the other side of the current circuit, the modern-day layout of high-speed straights and chicanes is still unique in F1.

And, of course, no where is the focus on Ferrari quite as red hot as here. Irrespective of how the Scuderia are doing in any given season, they are always expected to deliver by their legion of fans – the Tifosi – when F1 rocks up here to Monza.

Away we go for Practice One at Monza. Most drivers are straight out there, including the Ferrari cars that have a new colour scheme for their home event. We are going to see lots of young or test drivers in the cars for the opening Practice session in the final nine rounds. This weekend, Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich is in the car for the next hour in place of Lance Stroll at Aston Martin.

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55 mins to go: It’s a 1:24.241 from Oscar Piastri on the soft tyres, which is a couple tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton on the hards. Then come the Red Bulls and Ferraris. Early stages so far. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are on the hard tyres, while Piastri is on the softs and stops the brief Red Bull 1-2 with a 1:23.446.

50 mins to go: Both Alfa Romeos have been hit by a technical issue. Zhou Guanyu made it some way down the pit lane and had to be wheeled back, whereas Valtteri Bottas only just made it out of the garage. It appears to have been caused by the anti-stall kicking in as the cars attempted to get going. Ted Kravitz says the team are confident of getting the problem sorted out quickly.

48 mins to go: The drivers on the hard tyres are getting faster and faster, so Verstappen goes to the top from Sainz. But, Perez jumps into second to make it a Red Bull 1-2.

40 mins to go: Logan Sargeant, Alex Albon, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas are yet to set a lap time. The most likely reason for this in Williams’ case is they are saving tyres due to the Alternative Tyre Allocation that is in place this weekend, which gives each driver just 11 sets of tyres for the entire event, rather than 13. Alfa Romeo don’t look too busy in the garage, so may be playing the same game if they have fixed their technical issues.

35 mins to go: Fernando Alonso is one of the few drivers on the mediums and is currently in fourth. Alonso expects to not be in the podium fight this weekend, stating Williams and Ferrari should be strong due to the long straights and chicanes at Monza. Lando Norris, his McLaren smeared with flow-vis paint, lost a small part of his car, before Fernando Alonso came through a few moments later and ran over it. Hopefully no damage done to the Aston Martin. Sergio Perez goes a little bit quicker to get within three tenths of Max Verstappen. The Alfa Romeos and Williams finally emerge, so everyone has now set a lap time.

31 mins to go: Max Verstappen is complaining that he is getting “way too much helmet lift”. That doesn’t sound like the most serious issue for the world championship leader.

27 mins to go: Just over halfway through the session now around this super-fast layout. Max Verstappen continues to lead on that 1:22.657, nearly three tenths up on Perez and just over 0.3s clear of the two Ferraris. Lewis Hamilton on another lap at the moment, in seventh so far, 0.5s back, with George Russell 10th.

Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz: “Charles Leclerc is missing some time on the track at the moment, but it’s not something to be concerned about. Ferrari are making a change to the rear suspension and it’s easier if they jack the car up in the garage to do that. They are also fitting some new aero bits at the back.” He’s fourth on the timesheet at the moment.

We’ve just had confirmation from the FIA of which drivers have taken new power units for this weekend. Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Mercedes’ George Russell, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and both AlphaTauris make up the list. It’s the fourth and final engine from each of their allocations for the campaign.

Charles Leclerc comes out of his garage and there is smoke coming out of the car. It doesn’t look like a problem and it’s not unusual to see that.

18 mins to go: There was a hairy moment for Alex Albon at Turn 10 as he ran into the gravel, but did very well to regain control of his Williams. He’s back in the garage to check if any damage has been done.

12 mins to go: The Tifosi will be happy with that as Carlos Sainz slots into second, just 0.046s behind Max Verstappen. It’s been a good start to the weekend for Ferrari on home soil. Charles Leclerc is currently fourth, with the Red Bulls, Ferraris and Mercedes only using the hard tyres in this session.

5 mins to go: Probably not going to see many improvements here as every driver has used just one set of tyres in this session. Ideally, you want nine sets of tyres going into Practice Three tomorrow, so it means you can use just one set of tyres in each Practice session on a Friday with the Alternative Tyre Allocation, where 11 sets are given, rather than 13, for the weekend.

The chequered flag is out and it’s Max Verstappen who is fastest on what could be a record-breaking weekend for the Dutchman as he looks to beat Sebastian Vettel’s nine consecutive wins. Carlos Sainz finished second, while his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc in P4

Results from Friday practice at the Italian Grand Prix, Round 14 of the F1 2023 world championship.