The Paddock Post

Ferrari Take the Morning, Mercedes Take the Afternoon — and the Points Leader Is Starting Last

FP1 belonged to the home team. Leclerc went quickest on mediums with a 1m23.008s, Lewis Hamilton slotted in 0.173s behind him for a Ferrari one-two, and Russell was third at +0.304s. Liam Lawson — in the Red Bull again with Isack Hadjar still sidelined — was fourth, Antonelli fifth, Lando Norris sixth. The session's low point belonged to Colton Herta, whose Cadillac went off with a hydraulic problem after barely fifteen minutes, hours after he had put his F2 car into the wall at the second Lesmo.

FP2 flipped it. Russell put a 1m22.559s on the board and nobody beat it: Leclerc got within 0.120s, Antonelli within 0.141s, Norris was fourth and Hamilton fifth after running wide at the first chicane and taking the escape road. Oscar Piastri was sixth and spent the last ten minutes running nose-to-tail with Norris in what looked far more like a race simulation than a lap chase. Arvid Lindblad was seventh, Oliver Bearman eighth with a Ferrari power unit upgrade and new Haas aero, and Max Verstappen ninth, having spent the session on the radio about a total lack of downforce, then his brakes, then bouncing on the front axle. Lance Stroll went to the stewards over a Turn 1 moment that sent Norris across the grass.

All of which is prologue to the number that actually decides the weekend. Mercedes are fitting Antonelli a fifth internal combustion engine plus a new energy store and control electronics — comfortably enough penalties to send him to the back of the grid at his home Grand Prix. Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin called Monza "an energy-starved circuit with four overtaking zones — a driver cannot defend all of them," and with Mercedes leading both championships, the logic is to take the hit now rather than in a tighter month. Antonelli leads Russell and Hamilton by 59; Norris, 83 back, has the clearest run at closing it.

The Paddock Post wire