Verstappen Dominates Italian GP Practice, Leclerc and Norris Close Behind

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing emerged as the fastest driver in the opening practice session for the Italian Grand Prix at the historic Monza circuit. The Dutch driver struggled in the early stages, particularly with braking, but ultimately set the fastest time of 1:21.676 with the soft tire. Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari finished second, just 0.228 seconds behind Verstappen. Lando Norris of McLaren Racing was third, a mere 0.013 seconds back, focusing on long runs with a full fuel load. The top five was completed by Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari and Valtteri Bottas in the Sauber. Oscar Piastri outpaced Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes for sixth place, with Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, and Fernando Alonso rounding out the top ten. The session was interrupted early on by an incident involving Kimi Antonelli, who crashed his Mercedes. Antonelli was substituting for George Russell and had a large off-track excursion at the final corner in his second lap. The session resumed with drivers conducting further simulations for qualifying and race runs.