Ferrari on top in practice but grid penalties make for unpredictable weekend at Monza

A day that started with composed tranquillity as the Formula One paddock marked their respect to Queen Elizabeth II ended with hope and optimism among the Tifosi fanbase, devoted to team Ferrari at Monza’s centenary weekend.

After Charles Leclerc went quickest in first practice for the Scuderia, celebrating their 75th anniversary with flashes of yellow sprinkled over their scarlet red car under the scorching Italian sun, his teammate Carlos Sainz was top of the timesheets in practice two a few hours later.

Hope should spring eternal then for the Ferrari faithful travelling in their thousands to Lombardy this weekend, right? Unfortunately for the second time in two weeks, it’s slightly more complicated than that.

After seven drivers took penalties in Spa-Francorchamps a fortnight ago, six will do so on Sunday because they exceeded power unit and gearbox limits – and Sainz is among those dropping to the back of the grid.

Joining him are Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsuonda, while the Red Bull pairing of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez take a five-place and 10-place hit respectively. Valtteri Bottas will also drop 15 places.

The F1 paddock held a one minute silence prior to first practice on Friday at Monza (Getty Images)

The door, you feel then, is very much ajar for Ferrari’s main man Leclerc to repeat his Monza success of three years ago. Yet with seven races left of a 2022 season that has glided away from Ferrari, the man he trails by 109 points in the World Championship is still the favourite.

After all, world champion Verstappen won from 14th on the grid at a canter in Belgium, taking the lead in lap 12 and never looking back. And while Monza is vastly different to the longest track on the calendar in Spa, it is the quickest and Red Bull’s straight-line speed throughout this season and this new breed of cars has outpowered all around them.

“They [Ferrari] look good,” Verstappen said. “I’m not worried about it, but we still have a few things to finalise. If you look at the long runs, I think we look quite good, and that’s of course the most important for the race.”

While sport in the UK on Friday – and football over the weekend – ground to a halt following Her Majesty’s passing, F1 marked its own tribute with a one-minute silence in the pit lane prior to the first practice session, with F1 president Stefano Domenicali and FIA chief Mohammed ben Sulayem stationed alongside the British duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

A touching round of applause followed in the grandstands; a solitary Union Jack flag appeared too.

Lewis Hamilton described Queen Elizabeth II as an ‘iconic leader and inspiration’ (AFP via Getty Images)

Hamilton, who was appointed an MBE in 2008 by the Queen before receiving his knighthood last year, described her as an “iconic leader and inspiration” in a touching Instagram post early on Friday.

“I had the incredible honour of being able to spend time with her,” he said. “It is something I’ll never forget. We talked about our shared love of dogs and she was incredibly generous with her time.”

Hamilton, who is still trying to win his first race of 2022 and keep up his year-on-year victory record in F1, will do well to be anywhere near the front this weekend with his engine penalty – but was towards the top of the leaderboard in practice, finishing fourth and seventh in his two runs.

As well as Leclerc, the weekend may see an opportunity open up for Russell too, as the only other top-six driver not taking a penalty - he finished P3 and P4 in his practice sessions but did complain of bottoming on the straights.

Carlos Sainz was quickest in his Ferrari sprinkled with yellow on their 75th anniversary (Getty Images)

Fellow Brit Lando Norris, who came second last year at Monza behind McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo, finished fourth in practice two in another strong showing by the 22-year-old.

A repeat this year, frankly, is beyond unlikely. McLaren’s race pace is nowhere near the frontrunners. Nonetheless, penalties galore should make for an intriguing and enthralling race come Sunday afternoon and a disjointed starting grid following qualifying tomorrow. Football fans: watch the motor racing this weekend.