05/09/2025
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's opening session the air temperature is 26 degrees C, while the track temperature is 42 degrees. It is bright and sunny.
In terms of updates, McLaren has a new Front Suspension, Front Wing, Rear Wing and Beam Wing, all of which are, of course, circuit specific. The front suspension fairings have been reprofiled for improved flow conditioning in combination with the low drag configuration that will be used at this event, while on the front wing a trim has been applied in order to extend balance range in combination with the low downforce rear wing. The new, low downforce rear wing assembly has been developed, efficiently reducing both downforce and drag, suitable for high isochronal circuits, it features a reduced chord rear wing flap providing the ability to reduce drag and downforce further on the aforementioned low downforce assembly. In conjunction with the new low downforce rear wing assembly, a new, less loaded beam wing has been developed to extend the drag range of this rear wing.
Ferrari has a new Front Wing, Rear Wing and Beam Wing. The depowered front wing flap provides the required aero balance range associated to the optimum downforce level anticipated here, while the top wing and lower beam wing options are carried-over components from last year's low downforce events. Different top rear wing flap geometries and trim are available, to allow modulation.
Red Bull has a new Front Wing, Floor body, Floor fences and Floor edge. The nature of the circuit typically sees relatively low levels of rear wing necessitating a consummate change in the front wing. Shortening the chords of the 3rd and 4th elements achieves the target front wing load range. After a re-optimisation of floor surfaces, subtle changes have been made to the floor body extract more load through improved pressure distribution whilst maintaining flow stability. The floor fences are changed firstly by revisions to the floor body surfaces and then re-optimised for pressure distribution spanwise to extract more load. Finally, the floor edge is changed to be aligned with the changes to the floor body surfaces which in-turn allowed subtle re-profiling to extract locally more load.
Mercedes has a new Rear Wing, Floor Fences and Front Wing. Om the rear wing the flap tip is backed off and camber reduced to drop local downforce and drag; suitable for a high low downforce track such as Monza. In terms of the floor fences, a change in camber distribution redistributes local load and vorticity, resulting in improved onset flow to floor edge and rear floor. Finally, reduced camber drops local front wing load to enable an appropriate car balance to be achieved with the low downforce Monza rear wing.
Aston Martin has a new Rear Wing. The less aggressive rear wing flap option reduces the load generated by the wing, hence reducing drag to suit the high-speed nature of this circuit.
Haas has a new Wing Circuit. For this low-drag, low-downforce circuit, a front wing flap with slightly reduced chord length has been introduced to achieve the desired aerodynamic balance.
RB has a new Rear Wing, Floor Body, Coke/Engine Cover and Mirrors. The upper rear wing has been changed to meet the needs of the target downforce & efficiency level for Monza, while the shape of the underfloor and edge wing has been revised in order to increase the efficient load generated underneath the car. The shape of the bodywork has been revised to improve the flow quality of the air passing around and to the rear of the car, while the mirror geometry has been changed to meet the needs of the target downforce & efficiency level for this circuit.
Williams has a new Rear Wing and Front Wing. On the rear wing, the reduction in area on the upper flap element leads to lower drag and downforce, which is appropriate here. On the front wing the reduction in area on the upper flap element leads to lower drag and downforce, which is appropriate for correctly balancing the low drag rear wing options. This front wing trim may be applied irrespective of whether the team uses the rear wing trim previously described.
There are two reserve drivers on duty today, Paul Aron at Alpine and Alex Dunne at McLaren, relacing Franco Colapinto and Oscar Piastri respectively.
Hulkenberg is first out, followed by Bortoleto, Dunne, Sainz and Lawson. As more drivers emerge it is mostly mediums but a few are on hards.
As Hamilton heads out, the rear of his car smothered in flo-vis, Dunne calls for headrest pads to be fitted.
Soon all bar Alonso are on track, while Norris misses the first chicane.
Of the first wave Verstappen goes quickest with a 22.644.
Albon goes second, ahead of Stroll, Gasly and Aron.
Hamilton goes top with a 22.235, only to be leapfrogged by his teammate who stops the clock at 22.021.
Quickest in all three sectors, Norris responds with a 21.513.
A 21.479 from Albon (hards) as Verstappen (mediums) goes third with a 21.518. Alonso's first lap sees the Spaniard go seventh (22.308).
Just over ten minutes in and Sainz heads out, he has completed 4 laps thus far but has yet to post a time.
Verstappen goes top with a 21.166.
Hadjar is given the black and white for failing to follow the race director's instructions in terms of the escape road.
Verstappen complains that his tyres are starting to slide.
Courtesy of a tow from Tsunoda, Albon improves to 21.073.
Despite his sliding tyres Verstappen improves to 20.751 as Sainz goes third, ahead of Leclerc, Norris and Russell.
Gasly complains of being impeded by Sainz. "It's not fair," he says, "it's always the same with that guy."
Quickest in S1, Alonso goes fourth with a 21.192 on the mediums.
As Leclerc improves to second (20.970), the yellows are briefly waved when Aron spins at the second chicane.
Verstappen, Gasly, Ocon, Albon and the Sauber pair have taken on new engines this weekend.
Sainz (hards) improves to second (20.883), 0.132s off Verstappen's pace.
Following a brief lull Norris is the first to head out on softs. Verstappen follows suit, as does Hulkenberg.
Verstappen posts a 20.692, while Norris aborts. Dunne (softs) posts a 21.606 to go sixteenth.
"No grip, I just slide a lot," says Verstappen, as more drivers switch to the red-banded rubber.
Norris fails to improve, the McLaren driver clearly not at ease with the softs. Replay shows mistakes at both the Lesmos.
Hadjar gets it wrong at the Ascari chicane, as Tsunoda goes seventh and Lawson eighth.
Once again, Gasly is impeded by a Williams. "That's the second time," he complains.
The session is red-flagged due to the gravel dumped on the track following Hadjar's off, not helped by Antonelli also taking a trip through the kitty litter at the second Lesmo.
Oh dear, with Hamilton already having incurred a 5-place grid drop, Leclerc has been noted for a red flag infringement.
The session resumes with 17 minutes remaining.
Sainz is first out, followed by Stroll, Alonso, Hulkenberg and Bortoleto.
All are on softs bar Albon who is on mediums.
Sainz goes second with a 20.883.
Quickest in the first and final sectors, Leclerc crosses the line at 20.286, while Antonelli has a massive lock-up at the first chicane, missing it entirely.
Hamilton goes third with a 20.763 as it is confirmed that there will be no further action over his teammate's red-flag infringement.
"What is Bearman doing?" demands Dunne as he is clearly impeded by the Haas driver.
Alonso does 'a Hadjar' at Ascari, but doesn't throw up so much gravel.
Quickest in S2 and again in S3, Hamilton goes top with a 20.117. In the old days this would have been seen as a cynical attempt to boost ticket sales for the remainder of the weekend, Friday - other than the total lack of significance Stefano Domenicali places on it - being a family day at the track.
Antonelli goes fifth as his teammate is noted for failing to follow the escape road instructions.
"I heard a strange noise with the turbo I think, on this lap," reports Lawson.
With less than a minute to go Russell pulls off track at the second chicane, causing problems for Verstappen and Hulkenberg just behind. "I've lost power," reports Russell.
As the VSC is deployed the session ends. Hamilton is quickest, ahead of Leclerc, Sainz, Verstappen, Antonelli, Norris, Albon, Russell, Alonso and Hadjar.
Bortoleto is eleventh, ahead of Hulkenberg, Lawson, Tsunoda, Stroll, Dunne, Ocon, Gasly, Bearman and Aron.