Charles Leclerc led Lewis Hamilton in first practice at the Italian Grand Prix to start the weekend off on a positive note for Ferrari at Monza.

Leclerc was 0.173 seconds quicker than seven-time world champion Hamilton, with Mercedes’ George Russell ending the opening session third on the timesheets.

Liam Lawson, stepping in again at Red Bull for the injured Isack Hadjar, was fourth fastest, finishing above championship leader Kimi Antonelli in the other Mercedes.

Italian Antonelli, who is leading Hamilton and team-mate Russell by 59 points in the drivers’ championship, was 0.636 seconds off Leclerc’s best time.

The session, which took place in sweltering heat, was red-flagged when rookie Colton Herta, sitting in for regular Cadillac driver Sergio Perez, stopped out on track with a hydraulic issue.

Ferrari are hoping to capitalise this weekend on Antonelli’s grid penalty. The home driver will start from the back of the field on Sunday after being handed a penalty for taking a new power unit.

Lando Norris was sixth quickest for McLaren but the world champion, who has won the past two races in Hungary and Zandvoort, ended up following Antonelli and the Williams of Carlos Sainz across the gravel at the Turn One chicane.

Russell and Leclerc also tested the limits of the famous circuit, while other drivers highlighted issues with traffic over the team radio.

Briton Arvid Lindblad was behind Norris in seventh place for Racing Bulls, with Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and rookie Paul Aron, replacing Colapinto’s team-mate Pierre Gasly for the first hour, completing the top 10.

The other McLaren of Oscar Piastri ended the session 11th and more than four tenths off his team-mate Norris.

Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda is replacing Lawson for a second race weekend in a row at Racing Bulls and finished 12th, above Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg in 13th and the Haas of Oliver Bearman in 14th.

During the session, it was announced McLaren and Red Bull have won their appeals against the result of the Monaco Grand Prix after a controversy over multiple incorrect pit-lane speeding penalties.

The victory means Alpine’s Pierre Gasly loses the podium he was awarded after an appeal by the French team that overturned two five-second penalties.