Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet ahead of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz in the first free practice session for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix as championship leader Max Verstappen finished fifth. It was also revealed that the Red Bull driver will take an engine-related grid penalty on Sunday in Monza.

At the start of the opening practice session Verstappen quickly moved to the top of the order with a lap of 1: 25.830 set on hard tyres. His Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez then took top spot with a hard-tyre time of 1:25.026s before Alpine’s Fernando Alonso stole P1 by 0.091s.

Verstappen improved over his hard tyres run, however, and after reclaiming top spot after 10 minutes with a lap of 1:23.449, he eventually worked his way down to 1:22.853 before drivers began to switch to soft tyres.

Leclerc, on the red-walled rubber, immediately took top spot from Verstappen with a 1:22.410. Verstappen looked on course to beat that time, but the Dutchman encountered traffic in the final sector and he would end up fifth overall.

George Russell finished the session in third place while his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was fourth with a lap of 1:22.831 that left him 0.421 off Leclerc.

Verstappen finished fifth and 0.430 off the pace and it was revealed that the World Championship leader will incur a five-place grid drop for taking a new internal combustion engine.

Sixth place went to Alpine’s Esteban Ocon with team-mate Alonso seventh ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. Tenth spot went to 2021 Monza winner Daniel Ricciardo, with team-mate Lando Norris down in 16th in the second McLaren.

There were two FP1 cameos in the session with former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi finishing 18th in an outing with Haas and Nyck de Vries 19th for Aston Martin.

2022 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:22.410 25 253.061
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:22.487 0.077 23 252.825
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:22.689 0.279 27 252.207
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:22.831 0.421 24 251.775
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:22.840 0.430 27 251.747
6 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:23.075 0.665 28 251.035
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:23.099 0.689 26 250.963
8 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1:23.260 0.850 26 250.478
9 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:23.394 0.984 27 250.075
10 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.511 1.101 26 249.725
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:23.529 1.119 24 249.671
12 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:23.570 1.160 28 249.548
13 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1:23.640 1.230 27 249.340
14 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:23.661 1.251 21 249.277
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:23.688 1.278 28 249.197
16 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.856 1.446 27 248.697
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:24.006 1.596 24 248.253
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Haas/Ferrari 1:24.317 1.907 25 247.338
19 Nyck de Vries Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:24.731 2.321 22 246.129
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:24.941 2.531 24 245.521