The first track action has begun in preparation for Sunday’s final round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign at Italy’s Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Seasonal conditions saw a wet track, cool conditions and cloudy skies greet competitors, as the Hypercar Drivers’ title comes down to a thrilling finale in the last round of an exciting campaign
Robert Kubica set the early benchmark in the 90-minute running, peaking on a best lap of 1m47.738s in the yellow AF Corse Ferrari 499P he shares with team-mates Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson
The session remained wet throughout, with drivers and teams having to work hard to generate much-needed heat into their tyres, but a drying line as the rain relented saw times tumble in the final moments
Ultimately, it was the #35 Alpine that claimed the fastest lap of 1m45.862s, with Charles Milesi at the wheel; that effort meant Les Bleus enjoyed a 0.4s gap over the #83 Ferrari, which Yifei Ye took over from Kubica
Alpine, on the eve of its final Hypercar race this weekend with the A424, also took third place, as Victor Martins set a best lap time of 1m46.453s
Fourth-quickest was the first of the raucous V12 Aston Martin Valkyries, as the #007 claimed a 1m46.453s best with Harry Tincknell setting the time in the closing moments
James Calado put the reigning champions in the #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P fifth, just ahead of the leading Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001, the #17 car, as Barcelona pole hero Mathys Jaubert set its most rapid lap
The session was red-flagged three times, firstly after Antonio Fuoco went off-track in the #50 Ferrari in the opening minutes and subsequently when Robin Frijns stopped at the exit of the Ascari Chicane just under an hour in; the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 also encountered a dramatic issue in the final moments of the session, when its door came loose on track
The final red flag was deployed to collect the #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche LMGT3 entry, which went off at the second Lesmo corner with James Cottingham at the wheel
McLaren led the way in the first free practice session for the ultra-competitive LMGT3 category at Monza, as one of the standout rookies of the 2026 season, Tom Fleming, posted the best lap in the #10 Garage 59 entry
Fleming’s time, set in the final minutes of the session, stopped the clocks at 1m57.575s to put the car 0.4s ahead of the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang driven by local ace Giammarco Levorato
Points leader Jonny Edgar took third place in the #33 TF Sport Corvette that he hopes will carry him to the LMGT3 title this weekend; the rising British star could become the first standalone champion since Richard Lietz claimed a solo LMGTE Pro crown in the series in 2015
Parker Thompson wound up fourth in the #69 Team WRT entry, which is looking to successfully book-end the season in Italy after its curtain-raising success at Imola back in April
Thompson narrowly outpaced the #79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, in which Matteo Cressoni exploited his local knowledge to secure fifth
Completing the top six in FP1 was the second of the BMWs, with Sean Gelael taking the position in the final laps in the M4 Evo he shares with Augusto Farfus and Darren Leung
Check out the full FP1 results. The second free practice session is scheduled to get underway at 14:30 local time (CET).
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