FP1 Report | Delight for the Tifosi as Ferrari start the weekend fastest

It was a Ferrari one-two to kick off the Italian Grand Prix weekend, I'm sure the Tifosi will be taking that as hope for the weekend, especially with the grid penalties to key rivals. Charles Leclerc led Carlos Sainz in the 1-2, with George Russell in third, and championship leader Max Verstappen ended the session in fifth. Behind Lewis Hamilton as well.

Alpine looks quick

The French team has looked very quick out of the box here in Monza, which should do them wonders in the constructor's championship as the McLarens haven't looked as fast, although the British team did look to get itself together in the second half of the first free practice session. Fernando Alonso managed to finish the session in seventh and Esteban Ocon was sixth. Solid performance from both drivers while their championship rivals only mustered a 10th and 16th.

Lots of grid penalties so far

As the session developed, many grid penalties came to light for Sunday's Grandprix. Mainly both Red Bulls will suffer penalties as Verstappen takes 5 places, and Sergio Perez takes 10. While Carlos Sainz, will take 25 places in grid penalties but avoid the back of the grid due to it being split between the engine and gearbox. The other three penalties fall to Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda who go to the back of the grid and yet another penalty for Bottas who has 15 places. 

Red Bull Rear Wing

Perez's rear wing during the session looked especially flimsy and flapped about when the DRS was open throughout the beginning of the session while teammate Verstappen's was considerably more stable. Obviously, the team would be trying two different ones to see which is the most effective, although it will be interesting to see which one is selected for the rest of the weekend.