Hamilton leads Ferrari one-two in first Monza practice
MONZA, Italy: Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc delighted the Ferrari fans with a surprise one-two in first practice for the Italian Formula One team’s home grand prix at Monza on Friday. Making his first appearance at Monza in Ferrari red, seven-times world champion and five-times Italian GP winner Hamilton lapped the super-fast ‘Pista Magica’ with a best time of one minute 20.117 seconds. Leclerc, last year’s winner, was 0.169 slower with former Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz — the man Hamilton replaced in January after moving from Mercedes — third for Williams but 0.533 off the pace. Hamilton has yet to stand on the podium for Ferrari and Friday’s opening session, held in bright sunshine at the ‘Temple of Motorsport’, was a boost after the team’s double blank in the Netherlands last weekend when both cars crashed. Hamilton will have a five-place grid penalty for Sunday, however, after it was carried over from Zandvoort. Red Bull’s four-times world champion Max Verstappen was fourth fastest ahead of Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes. McLaren’s title contender Lando Norris was sixth after a trip through the gravel, with championship-leading teammate Oscar Piastri sitting out the session while Irish Formula Two driver Alex Dunne took his place and ended up 16th. Alex Albon was seventh fastest for Williams with Mercedes’ George Russell — who lost power and pulled over toward the end — eighth and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso ninth with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar completing the top 10. French rookie Hadjar, third last weekend for his first career podium in Formula One, triggered a red flag when he went off at the Ascari Chicane with 25 minutes to go and scattered gravel across the track. Alpine had Estonian