Ferrari Flies in Monza: Hometown Heroes Dominate Friday Practice

The Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale Monza kicked off with Friday's Free Practice sessions, providing valuable insights for the McLaren Formula 1 team. Drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, along with Team Principal Andrea Stella, shared their thoughts on the day's performances and preparations for the upcoming qualifying and race.

Lando Norris: A Day of Improvement

Lando Norris had a mixed day on the track, showing progress from FP1 to FP2. In the first session, he completed 26 laps and finished third with a time of 1m21.917s. The second session saw improvement, with Norris clocking in at 1m20.741s over 23 laps, securing the second position.

Reflecting on his performance, Norris commented, "An okay first day on track today. FP1 wasn't great as I felt a bit uncomfortable with the car. FP2 was better but we've got to make some progress overnight ahead of Quali tomorrow. I've got some areas to focus on with my driving in FP3, but we've got a good starting point to work from as a team."

Oscar Piastri: Solid Pace and Tire Management

Oscar Piastri showed consistency throughout the day, completing 23 laps in FP1 with a time of 1m22.199s, placing him sixth. In FP2, he improved to fourth position, recording a time of 1m20.858s over 24 laps.

Piastri expressed optimism about the team's performance, stating, "We had a decent Friday, I think the pace looks pretty solid. It's going to be very difficult on the tyres for everybody, so we'll work hard to make sure we're ready to maximise our performance, and we'll see what happens on race day. I think it's going to be a pretty interesting race compared to what we might normally have in Monza."

Andrea Stella: Data Acquisition and Track Analysis

Team Principal Andrea Stella provided a comprehensive overview of the day's activities, highlighting the team's focus on data acquisition and understanding the new track conditions. Stella noted, "Both sessions today were pretty busy. We had a lot of work to do to acquire data, and confirm our aerodynamic upgrades. We also worked to understand the tyres on this new tarmac, which seemed to show that they behave differently when compared to the past."

Stella also emphasized the unique challenges of the Monza circuit, saying, "As usual in Monza, we were also trying to nail the set-up for the long straights while also saving some grip in the corners. This year it looks like the tarmac is a lot smoother, which offers some opportunities from a set-up point of view."

Looking ahead to the weekend, Stella concluded, "We have plenty of work to do, but overall, it was a positive couple of sessions. We'll review all of this data and prepare for the remainder of the weekend, which looks very, very tight from a competitiveness point of view, with the usual four teams in condition to fight for the podium."