A rendition of the Italian national anthem full of wobbling tonsils and fruity brass. You would expect nothing less.

And the drivers get back to their vehicles...

The drivers come together on the start/finish line to show their commitment to racial justice.

Lewis Hamilton is wearing a t-shirt bearing an image of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor who was shot dead by police in Kentucky in March.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

What to expect of this first ever Grand Prix at Mugello, when it comes to the shape of the race? It’s a tough question. The long corners and abrasive circuit suggest a two-stop race - and this is quicker in absolute terms. But overtaking is expected to be difficult, because there is only one long straight, and the corner at the end of it is taken in fourth gear. In qualifying, the cars braked only six times around the entire lap of 15 corners.

That pushes teams towards a one-stop to protect track position, and actually the tyres have been handling the high G-forces of Mugello better than many expected. All the top 10 have gone for the soft tyre for the start because of the relatively long run to Turn One. Lewis Hamilton said the extra grip over the medium was worth “metres” and no-one wanted to take the risk of the medium and increase the risk of being passed off the grid, even though it is theoretically the better, more durable tyre over the first stint. The distance between the start and first corner, meanwhile, makes Lewis Hamilton vulnerable to being overtaken because of slipstreaming.

The pit-stop window is expected to open around lap 14-15. But then which tyre, and which strategy? A soft-medium one-stop is extremely marginal, and will probably require a first stint of more than 20 laps. Teams will be calculating strategy on the hoof, judging how difficult overtaking looks in the opening laps. The harder it looks, the more teams will be pushed to a one-stop and protecting track position, and the more tyre management will be going on.

A safety car - which has to be considered a decent possibility given the high speed nature of the track and the proximity of gravel traps and walls - would turn all this on its head, of course.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Max Verstappen having problems with his engine on the reconnaissance laps. "Before, the engine was almost stalling, like it was on idle." Then: "It's definitely not OK."

It is getting toasty in Tuscany.

A similar day temperature-wise to Silverstone, conditions in which the Red Bulls looked very frisky.

Max Verstappen, on the clean side of the grid, will relish getting into the rear-view of Lewis Hamilton.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty

Esteban Ocon’s spin in final qualifying was probably a bit of a present for Charles Leclerc, who had been eighth in Q2 in the Ferrari but ended up fifth on the grid after a mega first lap in the final session. But one of the teams who missed out and felt they should have beaten the Ferrari were Racing Point, for whom Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll qualified right behind in sixth and seventh.

They will swap places on the grid, as Perez has a one-place penalty for causing a collision with Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo in Friday practice, but the Mexican did a good job because he did not have a big new update package that only Stroll was running this weekend.

Perez, who did only one lap in Q3, said he felt he had maximised the car but Stroll was ruing the Ocon incident, saying he felt he could have beaten Leclerc, and perhaps even Alex Albon’s Red Bull to fourth had he not been running behind Ocon. The upgrade - shrunken, reshaped side pods and some other aerodynamic tweaks - was “promising,” he said.

Peter: Reverse grids work well in the BTCC format ... provides very different races; having said that, F1 are going to have to sort out the overtaking (or lack thereof) problem so someone starting 10th could still go for a win.

Lee Allen: F1 should definitely look at doing some reverse grid races. Just look at the British Touring Car races in that format. Brilliant wheel-to-wheel action and unpredictable results, but the cream still rises and the best driver/car combinations often still deliver.

Jennifer Harris: Reverse grids, not only a crazy idea but potentially dangerous too. As for this circuit, can you ask F1 to keep it on the calendar, please? Pretty please!

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty

McLaren arrived in Mugello expecting a good weekend, saying their car was good compared to its upper midfield rivals in medium- and high-speed corners. But it has not worked out that way. Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris have been struggling all weekend. Sainz just made it into the top 10, and qualified ninth, while Norris is 11th.

Norris explained what had gone wrong: “Wind, Tarmac, those two factors, mainly wind. It is one of our weaknesses. And there is quite a bit of wind and that is probably one of the biggest factors in the mistakes and so on. The car has been very unpredictable, changing lap on lap, and as soon as you go over the limit it is quite costly. Everyone is finding it hard to understand. The tyres work differently for different teams and there are a lot unknowns for us and other teams on these different characteristics, track surface, wind and kerbs and so on.” The car, Sainz said, does not react well to tail winds, and the team are trying to work out why.

Mick Schumacher has handed the keys to the F2004 back and said he loved every minute of driving his father's iconic car.

"This was always a dream for me to drive this car," Schumacher said.

"I drove the car at Hockenheim last year but to drive it at Mugello in non-rainy conditions has been an absolute honour.

"Thank you to Ferrari for this opportunity"

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Just under 35 minutes to lights out. A reminder of the full grid...

1. Lewis Hamilton

2. Valtteri Bottas

3. Max Verstappen

4. Alex Albon

5. Charles Leclerc

6. Lance Stroll

7. Sergio Perez (one place grid penalty taken)

8. Daniel Ricciardo

9. Carlos Sainz

10. Esteban Ocon

11. Lando Norris

12. Daniil Kvyat

13. Kimi Raikkonen

14. Sebastian Vettel

15. Romain Grosjean

16. Pierre Gasly

17. Antonio Giovinazzi

18. George Russell

19. Nicholas Latifi

20. Kevin Magnussen

This is a big weekend for the sport with the Tuscan Grand Prix the first of the season to be held with fans at the track.

2,800 spectators have been allowed into Mugello on each day of the grand prix.

There will be 1,000 fans in the Tribuna Centrale grandstand on the start-finish straight, another 1,000 in the stand between Turn Three and Turn Four and 880 tickets were also made available for Ferrari club members in the stand on the exit of Turn Eight.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

Renault were left ruing missed opportunities after qualifying. Daniel Ricciardo was fifth in second qualifying and the times set by him and Esteban Ocon in that session would have put them fifth and sixth on the grid. But it was not to be. Ricciardo’s first lap in the top 10 shoot-out was not a match for his previous one and his second was ruined when Ocon spun and caused yellow flags. Ricciardo was behind him on track so could not improve, the same fate as befell Valtteri Bottas in the pole battle. As a result, the Renaults start eighth and 10th.

Ricciardo, as ever, stayed positive. “We showed pretty good pace today, so it’s a shame not to maximise it,” he said. “We’re still in a good position to score points for the race. There will be a lot going on in the race and I think there will be a good battle for the top five and hopefully it’s a fun one.”

Despite the spin, it was a positive weekend for Ocon, who has been closer to Ricciardo than perhaps at any race so far this season - just 0.054secs separated them. “I felt great with the car.,” Ocon said. “I felt there was a lot of time to be gained but it was a bit over the limit. I’m sorry for the other drivers who couldn’t get in their lap. This track bites you when you go over. The car is performing well, so it’s a good sign.”

Turn your volume up to its highest setting for this video...

Image source, Getty Images

A penny for the thoughts of Valtteri Bottas today.

The Finn is fast finding that the Mercedes number two seat is one of the least comfortable in Formula 1.

You beat every other team and everyone credits the car around you. You fail to match up to your superstar colleague Lewis Hamilton and everyone questions every aspect of your own ability.

Would one win give him the confidence he needs to know he can go toe-to-toe with Hamilton?

ZeroApex: All this chatter about reverse grids should stop, especially from Ross Brawn. They did it in Supercars for a while and it just led to spiralling repair costs as drivers equipped with cars or ability (or both) that were 1% less wreaked havoc.

Mr Dunn: Those wanting reverse grids in F1 are mostly just anti-Hamilton / anti-Mercedes. They’ll regret when their guy is the no 1.

Jeremiah: The Reverse Grid is not the panacea to all the issues and problems of F1 especially processional races and dominance on wins by some teams.

Anyone prepared to speak up in favour of the reverse-grid mix-up? Brawn's plan is reportedly a sprint race with the grid a reverse of the Championship standings as a replacement for qualifying remember...

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

This is a momentous weekend for Ferrari, celebrating their 1,000th world championship Grand Prix on their own track, but it has not exactly come in the best of seasons; the team struggling for competitiveness in a way that reminds some with long memories of 1980, when Gilles Villeneuve and Jody Scheckter would typically be found in the bottom half of the grid.

Despite the poor performance of the 312 T5 that year, Villeneuve produced performances that enhanced what is now his legend, and Leclerc is going the same way in 2020. He has already come up with starring performances in races in Austria and Silverstone, and Saturday brought another one, sticking his car a remarkable fifth on the grid.

Leclerc was helped, almost certainly, by Esteban Ocon’s spin that prevented some potentially faster cars setting a second time, but he’d earned it on the first run, and they hadn’t.

“It was definitely amazing,” Leclerc said. “P5 is definitely the best we could have done and I did not expect it. So very, very happy. The balance definitely feels a lot better. In Monza I was really not confident in the car and I was probably not driving at my best because I did not have the confidence. This weekend I’ve had a lot of confidence in the car.”

The same could not be said for Sebastian Vettel, knocked out in Q2 in 14th place when he was 0.4secs slower than Leclerc, and slower even than the Alfa Romeo of his former Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. “I am trying to,” Vettel said, "but so far, I’m not really getting the hang of the car.”

Image source, Getty

More enjoyable than last night's platitudes and pagentry is the current scene in Mugello.

Ferrari have handed the keys to Michael Schmacher's 2004 Championship-winner car to Schmacher's son Mick, currently leading Formula 2 and surely set for promotion soon.

The hills around Mugello are ringing to the throaty roar of that red-lining engine.

Image source, Getty

Sparky: Wrestling is not completely random, there are unexpected results and fairytale endings, but it is mostly scripted unlike F1 is. Just don't botch up and you'll be fine.

Bob McFeil: On the topic of reverse grids: I can’t help but feel that it avoids resolving the problem itself, namely the inequality between teams and the poor racing at the front. The solution is the new rules and until then we’ll have to wait.

Andrew: Reverse grid is the worst idea ever, F1 is about the best of the best not gimmicks.

Image source, Gety

Formula 1 is not noted for it's understated style.

Ferrari certainly aren't.

So Ferrari celebrating participating in 1000 F1 races in the heart of Italy?

Last night's gala was full of high-tech flash-bangs and operatic overtures, with current drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc in attendance. Less mentions of the team's current miserable form though.