Free practice has come and gone once again at Monza, with teams hoping to have nailed down their set-ups before qualifying at the fastest track on the Formula One calendar.
As we begin the final stretch of races towards the end of the season, it is vital for teams to extract every ounce of performance from their cars in order to better their rivals.
As always, practice offers a valuable indicator as to what direction each team and driver’s weekend is heading in.
With that in mind, lets see what we can potentially infer from practice at the Italian Grand Prix.
Norris looking for an instant bounce back
Lando Norris knows the task ahead of him.
His retirement last time out at the Dutch Grand Prix has resulted in a 34-point gap to teammate Oscar Piastri at the top of the championship.
Norris still has time on his side to catch up, with nine races and three sprints left, but he will have to be near perfect to do so, especially with the form his fellow McLaren driver is in.
It is encouraging then that the Briton has started off strong in Monza, outpacing Piastri in all sessions both were on track (McLaren junior Alex Dunne stood in for Piastri in FP1).
The slight caveat on that is McLaren were not as far ahead as they have been in the rest of the season.
FP1 saw Norris clock in with the sixth fastest time, and while he topped the second and third sessions, it was Charles Leclerc who came in second both times, less than a tenth behind in both.
It indicates that we could be getting a much closer race than we have seen in recent rounds, and with the usual chaos qualifying at Monza provides, we could see a driver in a non-papaya colour take pole.
Ferrari looking to please Tifosi on home soil
Ferrari’s pace has been fairly erratic this season, but they seem to have found form right when they wanted to.
Sporting a lovely tribute livery dedicated to Niki Lauda, Ferrari took a surprise one-two in FP1 with Lewis Hamilton leading Charles Leclerc.
They followed it up with both cars finishing in the top 5 in FP2, with Leclerc P2.
However, FP3 brought slightly worse fortunes, Hamilton finished seventh and complained on the radio about his car needing “more juice”, whilst Leclerc’s car seemed to be on edge around the track, almost ending up in the gravel on a few occasions.
The Monegasque driver still managed to pull out a good lap at the very end to finish P2, only 0.021 seconds off Norris in first.
Ferrari would love nothing more than a good result in Italy, and their practice pace seems to indicate that one may be on the cards.
Hamilton is carrying a five-place grid penalty though, which could play in Leclerc’s favour as it may make the Briton willing to give his teammate a slipstream in qualifying at a track where that is vital.
Antonelli’s struggles continue with practice crash
12 months ago, Kimi Antonelli made his debut in an F1 session for the first time at Monza, where he would spin out after ten minutes on track.
Fast forward to now, in the midst of a challenging rookie season, Antonelli once again went off at Monza.
It’s the last thing the Italian driver wants, having struggled for form recently, his best result being tenth in the last five races.
With critics questioning whether Antonelli was ready for the jump to Formula One, losing such a large chunk of track time is yet another set back for the 19-year-old.
It was not the best practice for Mercedes as a whole, with George Russell struggling on the two Friday sessions, before finishing fifth in FP3, just under two tenths from Norris.
Tight-knit field could lead to chaos
As mentioned before, McLaren’s dominant position over the rest of the field seems to have waned for this weekend.
The top 10 in FP3 were covered by just four tenths of a second, and multiple teams have shown a good run of pace.
Williams were especially strong on Friday, with Carlos Sainz finishing with the third fastest time in FP1 and FP2.
Max Verstappen managed to keep his times around those of the top of the field, despite getting into an on-track spat with Esteban Ocon, the Dutchman had some choice words for the Frenchman on the radio.
It means that qualifying has a sizable sprinkle of intrigue heading into it, with McLaren facing potential challengers from someone other than themselves for pole.
Factoring in the ever-prevalent slipstream at the Monza track, then qualifying will be a must-watch event.
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