Key events
But how did George Russell manage to get those two practice first places? With a little help from his friend. Kimi Antonelli gave his teammate a tow, and the odds are that he will do the same in qualifying; the Italian’s penalty, sending him to the back of the grid means he has nothing to lose.
A similar benefit will accrue to Max Verstappen, with Liam Lawson taking engine penalties in the Red Bull on behalf of Isack Hadjar. Alex Albon will be assisting his Williams teammate Carlos Sainz.
FP3 was not without incident, as two former champions rolled back the years:
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen evoked memories of their 2021 title scrap as they clashed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton and Verstappen, the latter already aggrieved with his one-time rival for appearing to get in his way earlier in the session, came together in the closing moments.
Hamilton was forced to take to the escape road at the opening chicane – the scene of their infamous accident five years ago – after Verstappen launched his Red Bull underneath the seven-time world champion’s Ferrari. The pair came within centimetres of making contact with one another.
“I got blocked by Max,” said Hamilton over the radio. “Yeah, he caused that,” counter-claimed Verstappen on the Red Bull intercom. PA
What has happened in free practice at Monza?
FP1 went well for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc topping the standings from Hamilton, with George Russell in third, then Liam Lawson, Antonelli and Norris. Incidentally, Antonelli picked up a fine of €100 – yes, a whole one hundred euros – for going 0.1km/h too fast in the pit lane. He will be bereft.
FP2 went better for Mercedes: Russell was first with Antonelli third, Leclerc sandwiched between them. Norris was fourth, ahead of Hamilton and Piastri.
FP3 was also a good one for Russell, but this time he was fastest ahead of Hamilton, with Max Verstappen in third, ahead of Antonelli, Norris and Leclerc.
Safe to say, Alpine didn’t take Gasly’s relegation well, with Flavio Briatore, the ever level-headed and calm team principal, alleging pro-McLaren bias from one of the judges, prompting an FIA statement about the its court of appeal today:
The FIA Courts wish to make clear that the appointment and participation of the judges in that case, like for any other case, were conducted in accordance with the applicable FIA judicial procedures and usual practice, which are inspired by the highest standards like the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration.
The lost podium is important for Gasly and the lost points significant in midfield, while the foul-up was embarrassing for F1 and Monaco. But none of it really affected the title race, even though McLaren gained a couple of points for Oscar Piastri. Of far more significance are the 25 points picked up at Zandvoort by their Lando Norris, as he secured his second straight win. The defending world champion now seems to have a car capable of mounting an actual defence.
Hello! With half an hour to go till Q1, a reminder of where the drivers stand – and lower down the table it is not where they stood after the Dutch GP, because Isack Hadjar has been restored to third place in Monaco at the expense of Pierre Gasly. As you may remember, drivers were wrongly penalised for speeding in the pit lane and Gasly benefited from not taking his penalty during the race, unlike the others. He had third taken off him, then won it back on appeal, but this week the FIA’s international court of appeal ruled against the Alpine driver, which means:
1 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 242pts
2 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 183
3 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 183
4 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 159
5 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 155
6 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 112
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 106
8 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull 71
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls/Red Bull 51
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 35
11 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 23
12 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 19
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 18
14 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 10
15 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 6
16 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 6
17 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 5
18 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 3
19 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 3
Yet to score:
Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin
Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac
Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac
Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls
Hadjar may have now come third in Monaco, but it should be mentioned that he is still hampered by a wrist injury, so Liam Lawson is again in his Red Bull, with Yuki Tsunoda in for Racing Bulls.
Preamble
Italy loves Formula One. It is home to the most storied team in the sport’s history: Ferrari’s total of 16 constructors’ world titles is six better than McLaren’s, double the number of Mercedes’s. The first world championship race, at Silverstone in 1950, was won by Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo, and he went on to take the title; in 1952 and 1953, Alberto Ascari became the first driver to win back-to-back titles, and did so driving in a Ferrari.
Yet 73 years after Ascari’s second triumph, he remains the last Italian to win the drivers’ title, albeit the American Mario Andretti, the 1978 champion, was born in 1940 in what was then Italy, but is now Croatia. Only Michele Alboreto has come remotely close, finishing second in 1985 but a distance behind Alain Prost, who became France’s first champion with two races to spare.
Which brings us to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has been interviewed for us by Giles Richards:
The last Italian to win the world championship was Alberto Ascari in 1953 and the country has embraced their wunderkind in the German marque wholeheartedly. For all that Ferrari is a religion in Italy, in Monza Antonelli has brought Mercedes into the faith.
Antonelli is no longer a teenager – he turned 20 on 25 August, two days after the Dutch Grand Prix – but remains a sensation, on course to become F1’s youngest world champion by more than three years, arriving at his home race with a 59-point lead in the standings – and a new power unit, which means he will start the grand prix at the back of the grid:
This weekend Antonelli and Mercedes have already made one decision which is to put the title tilt first. The Italian is taking a raft of new engine components for which he will receive a penalty that means he will start from the back of the grid. He recognises that the overtaking opportunities at Monza made this the right choice, even as he deals with the weight on his shoulders as the home hero.
This means that qualifying is academic for the likely world champion. But not for Ferrari, for whom Lewis Hamilton is third in the title race, by virtue of having one fewer win than George Russell in the other Mercedes. As Giles reported:
Ferrari are bringing their second engine upgrade this weekend in expectation of narrowing the gap to title leaders Mercedes. Hamilton trails the championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, by 59 points, alongside Mercedes’ George Russell.
If Hamilton wins the Italian GP he will pass Michael Schumacher’s record of five wins at Monza, all of which the German scored with Ferrari. The team are honouring him this weekend with a special livery to mark 30 years since Schumacher joined.
I’ll be back from 2.30 BST for the buildup to qualifying at 3pm BST, with more background to the weekend. But for now, here is Giles’s interview with Antonelli in full:
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/sep/05/formula-one-2026-italian-grand-prix-qualifying-live
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