The first day of free practice in Monza did not start so much from what the track revealed, but from how it has changed. After many years in which the Italian circuit had not undergone modifications, the Autodrome has been renewed with new asphalt and modified curbs, which have also changed the character of a circuit that drivers must partly rediscover. Of course, the starting point is always the same, but it is clear that with lower curbs where it is easy to cut the racing line and a totally renewed track surface, still rather dirty at the start of the day, Monza now offers some challenges to be rediscovered.
The asphalt is realistically expected to evolve greatly over the course of the weekend, also thanks to the support series that will leave rubber, increasing grip, but initially, it proved very slippery, creating additional stress on the tires, which suffered from graining. This is compounded by the fact that cars are running with rather low wings here, further accentuating this phenomenon. It is no coincidence that it appeared for several teams during the long runs, including Red Bull and Ferrari, with the latter experiencing it even on the medium tires.
However, the situation should already evolve today, with the track improving further, even though at the moment, there remains a question mark over strategies. On Friday, only Yuki Tsunoda tested the hard tires, while the others saved the second set. Considering that at Monza, the time lost for a pit stop is quite significant, it is possible to imagine that teams will aim for a one-stop strategy, with the second set of hard tires as plan B in case an additional stop is necessary.
As for what the track has actually shown, the times recorded on Friday are difficult to interpret, also because there are several considerations to be made, but they offer several insights. Lewis Hamilton was the driver who recorded the best time on Friday in a day still dedicated to experiments, with a comparison of the floor that in FP2 led the Englishman to confirm the latest updates. According to the drivers, the W15 proved to be well-balanced from the start of the session, but the W15 made top speed its strength on Friday, with maximum speeds even 4 kilometers per hour higher than McLaren’s, suffering more in the Lesmo corners where great support is needed and where the MCL38, with its overall downforce, is able to perform better, giving more confidence to the driver. Hamilton had a bit more difficulty in the first chicane compared to all the main rivals, although several drivers made mistakes today.
However, the McLaren laps are perhaps the ones to take with the most caution. Norris’s best time came on a lap that McLaren had asked to abort: it wouldn’t be the first time the Briton hasn’t shown all his cards in free practice, only to find something extra at the decisive moment in qualifying. Even more interesting, however, is Oscar Piastri’s time, as it could have been significantly faster than what was actually recorded, which would have put him at the top of the leaderboard.
In fact, coming out of Ascari, the Australian lost the rear and had to control an oversteer, which forced him to lift off the accelerator: this impacted the entire stretch leading to the Parabolica, where Piastri was actually 10 kilometers per hour slower than his teammate for a long time. A slip-up that cost him over two-tenths, demonstrating that the McLaren driver could have been much faster than he actually was. Overall, the MCL38 proved to be extremely quick in corners, especially in the two Lesmo corners compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, which paid a bit more in terms of deficit.
It remains to be seen how much the Woking team held back on the straights and how much, on the contrary, was due to aerodynamic deficiencies: last year, in fact, the MCL60 did not excel in these configurations. Compared to Mercedes, which shares the same Power Unit, the gap is quite marked on all straights, while compared to Ferrari, it is present on all the stretches except the one where the starting grid is located.
The team that ended the day with a smile is Ferrari, especially regarding Charles Leclerc, who said he was satisfied not only with the performance but also with the updates brought for the home GP. The Red team debuted a package at Monza not only adapted to the track but also aimed at solving some problems encountered recently while adding aerodynamic load. So far, the much-feared bouncing hasn’t appeared in a bothersome way, unlike other teams, such as Alpine, which especially in mid-corner had to fight against this annoying phenomenon.
From a performance standpoint, the SF-24 doesn’t seem far off from the rivals with its very low-drag setup, which has actually made it one of the fastest on the straights compared to the four leading teams, in line with Mercedes for reference. Where the Maranello car showed some more signs of difficulty was in the two Lesmo corners in the central sector, where Leclerc himself had previously experienced significant oversteer, indicating that in areas where great stability and support are needed, there is still room for improvement. From this perspective, it will be very interesting to see if the track’s improvement in the coming days will favor the Italian team, also because there are other areas that will be crucial to work on, such as the Parabolica, where the two Ferraris are not as effective on entry as their rivals, struggling to carry speed through the initial phase.
Charles Leclerc emphasized how satisfied he was with the first day in terms of performance, with a much more convincing starting point than at Zandvoort, but it will be equally important to work on improving the balance. From the first session, the Monegasque driver complained about a car that was difficult to drive, an issue he had already mentioned at other Grands Prix. In fact, Leclerc received a lot of driving advice from the pit wall, particularly on how to manage deceleration and brake pedal pressure spikes.
The Red Bull situation is even harder to read for two main reasons: first, because Max Verstappen didn’t complete his lap on soft tires due to a mistake at the Parabolica, and second, because the Milton Keynes team is always very conservative with engine mappings on Fridays. Moreover, the RB20 doesn’t have an ultra-low downforce wing, but rather a standard wing with a DRS flap cut into several sections. The gap on the straights was noticeable, not just in terms of top speed, but also in terms of acceleration, especially towards the Ascari.
Before aborting his lap due to the mistake at the final corner, the data shows that Max Verstappen’s lap was still strong in terms of cornering speed, especially at Ascari, where the lower curbs this year evidently made it easier to navigate that section. Even in the Lesmo area, the Dutchman seems to be the only one able to keep up with the McLarens’ pace. The three-time world champion is aware that the situation is more delicate on a single lap, while he, like Sergio Perez, felt more confident in race simulations, where only towards the end did the tires begin to suffer significantly from graining, causing a more marked increase in lap times.
This is also why analyzing long runs at Monza is extremely complex: aside from the possible traffic, which many drivers encountered while using DRS to overtake, affecting their times, the graining effect hit many teams today. Before this phenomenon kicked in, despite Verstappen starting off slowly to try to prevent it, Red Bull’s times on the medium tires were competitive. McLaren might be the team that has shown the most overall balance, but the real difference will be made by the overnight work, where it will be crucial to understand how much the track will evolve to avoid being caught off guard.
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