Formula 2 (F2) returned from the summer break at Monza for Round 10 of the 2026 season, opening the Italian GP weekend with Free Practice.
The green light came on at the end of the pit lane, and the field headed out for its first laps around the Temple of Speed before qualifying later in the afternoon.
Minì suffers early brake fire
Gabriele Minì suffered an early scare at the start of the session when smoke and flames appeared around the front brakes of his MP Motorsport car.
The team appeared to build brake and tyre temperature when the issue emerged, either overheating the brakes or dealing with possible debris in the duct. Marshals quickly put out the fire, allowing the Italian driver to avoid more serious damage early in his home weekend.
Cian Shields and Rafael Villagómez ran close together on their out laps, giving an early hint of the traffic games likely to come later in the day.
At Monza, the tow can make a major difference, and drivers were already preparing for the slipstream battle in qualifying. With another DRS zone available around the Temple of Speed, overtaking opportunities looked set to play a major role throughout the weekend.
León sets the first benchmark
The rest of the field began to head out as the opening phase of the F2 Free Practice at the Italian GP, built towards the first representative laps of the day.
Drivers jostled for track position around Monza, with the tow already becoming a factor as they prepared their push laps. Noel León delivered the first proper benchmark, putting Campos Racing on top with a 1:32.715.
It was a strong opening effort from the Mexican driver, who went 0.344s clear of Stenshorne in second as the early order began to take shape.
Dunne takes over before Herta crash ends session
Alex Dunne then moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1:32.297, beating Nico Varrone as the pace continued to improve.
The Rodin Motorsport driver found more time on his next attempt and lowered the benchmark to a 1:31.957. Oliver Goethe slotted into second, 0.170s behind, while the rest of the field continued to fight for clean air and space around the Temple of Speed.
The session then came to a sudden halt when Colton Herta ran through the gravel at the exit of the second Lesmo and hit the barrier. Race Control brought out the red flag, and the damage to the barrier proved too extensive for the session to restart.
That left Dunne fastest at the end of Free Practice, ahead of Goethe and Varrone. Championship leader Nikola Tsolov finished fourth, with Roman Bilinski completing the top five. Joshua Dürksen took sixth ahead of Stenshorne, León, Rafael Câmara and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.
F2 2026 Italian GP Free Practice results
