"The rears are blocked, I'm stuck in seventh gear."

The VSC has been deployed and we've reached the end of first practice at Monza. George Russell is safely out of his stricken car and is walking back to the safety of the pits. He added to his radio message: "Rears are blocked, stuck in seventh".

"I've lost power."

Yellow flagpublished at 13:31 BST 5 September

13:31 BST 5 September

Yellow flag is out and it's for George Russell, who has come to a stop on track and tells his Mercedes pit wall he has "lost power".

Harry Benjamin
BBC F1 Commentator

Fred Vasseur is not giving too much away and there's a lot of concentration going on in the Ferrari garage.

If only this was Sunday. After a struggle in Friday's practice sessions at the Dutch Grand Prix a week ago, Ferrari are now one and two on the timesheets, with Lewis Hamilton the best of the lot - 0.169 seconds quicker than second-place Charles Leclerc - with a time of 1:20.117 on the soft compound.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Aston Martin are up and down but I'm excited to see how they get on next year because of that Honda power unit and Adrian Newey's brain.

It'll be interesting to see how they get on. I think that's one of the reasons why Fernando Alonso is willing to put up with decisions going more in Lance Stroll's direction than his.

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 1:20.286

2. Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.364

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.406

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.477

5. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.735

The tyres for this weekend's event in Monza are exactly the same as the ones used for last year's race, with the C3 as the hard, C4 the medium and the C5 taking on the role as the soft. The track is one year on from being resurfaced, so the level of graining will be lower this time around.

Last year, when Charles Leclerc took a famous Ferrari win in front of the jubilant tifiso, the Monegasque man was one of 14 drivers to start on the medium compound, before he switched to the hard tyre on lap 15 on his way to a one-stop victory.

Image source, Pirelli 2025

Alex Dunne is coming to the end of his rookie stint in first practice. But the Irishman is impeded by the Haas of Oliver Bearman, who scored his first points since the Bahrain Grand Prix at Zandvoort last time out. Clearer communication is the priority for the rest of the weekend, says Dunne.

Kimi Antonelli locks up and carries on at Turn One and in the process does some harm to his soft tyres. The Italian rookie, who is now the grand old age of 19 after celebrating his birthday during the summer shutdown, is in 13th place on the timesheets, just behind the McLaren of Lando Norris.

To add to his news from the stewards, Charles Leclerc has managed a clean lap on Ferrari soil and is quickest overall with a 1:20.692, which is four-tenths better than the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Harry Benjamin
BBC F1 Commentator

A moment of relief for Charles Leclerc it's fair to say and the tifosi can also breathe a sigh of relief at that news.

Quick decision by the stewards, who decide to talk no further action on Charles Leclerc's red flag infringement a few moments ago.

Image source, PA Media

"I think it's the second time a Williams is on the line as we push so...

"We might need to have a talk with their pit wall if they can help with that, before we get an incident."

Charles Leclerc has been noted for a red flag infringement. There was also a Sauber involved in this incident, which Leclerc overtook when the red flag came out. Like he said, he did try to slow down, but we'll have to wait and see what the stewards make of this one.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Monza

Charles Leclerc is not having a very happy day. He'll be very nervous about that red flag. There's already one Ferrari with a penalty this weekend for a flag infringement.

That's two flying laps Leclerc has had to abort in the first sector.

Postpublished at 13:12 BST 5 September

13:12 BST 5 September

While we wait for this red flag to clear, the quickest runners so far are Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, but the Williams man is on hard tyres, Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, on mediums, and rookie Isack Hadjar. The rest of the field are also trying out the red rubber.

When Leclerc reached the Hadjar gravel section, the Monegasque driver called in to his Ferrari pit wall to say it was a "tricky situation" to slow, but he did try to brake in time.

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter at Monza

It's a tricky time for a red flag to fall. These tyres have been used and more than scrubbed in for most teams.

Every decision they make this time out has some sort of implication on qualifying and race strategy.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

I would rather have the gravel issue. I still am a firm believer and enjoy old school circuits, not these circuits - I'm not going to call them Mickey Mouse as that's the wrong term - where you aren't punished.

This is part and parcel of driving a racecar on the limit.