F1 2025 Italy GP LIVE: Qualifying start time, schedule and practice results – UK Times

The Frenchman has penned an extension until the end of the 2028 season.

“I’m thrilled to commit my long-term future to Alpine. As a Frenchman, especially, driving for a French car company, makes me feel very proud,” said Gasly.

“Since I joined in 2023, I have always felt that this team is the right place to be for the future. Flavio’s [Briatore] support and belief in me, François’ [Provost] commitment to the Formula One project, as well as the people we have in Enstone made this a natural decision and I want to be here in years to come and deliver on our joint objective: to win races and world championships.

“We’re all in this together and I look forward to continuing this special story.”

Monza, the home of Ferrari and dubbed motorsport’s “Temple of Speed”, holds a special place in the heart of Felipe Drugovich. It was here that he sealed victory in the 2022 Formula Two championship. Draped in the Brazilian flag, eyes bulging, his pure look of exultation was not only one of sheer relief, but also of bullish hope.

And why shouldn’t it have been? Recent history showed that triumphing in Formula One’s feeder series (GP2 before 2017) was the natural catalyst for promotion to the exclusive 20-driver top table. Prior to 2022, eight consecutive champions had landed a spot in F1, dating back to Fabio Leimer’s GP2 win in 2013. Yet excruciatingly for Drugovich, raw pace and points on the board aren’t always the No 1 factor in this sport.

The timing could not have been more piercing for Lando Norris. Just as the crestfallen McLaren driver trudged back to the Zandvoort pit-lane, Oscar Piastri was introduced onto the top step of the podium as the winner of the Dutch Grand Prix. The Brit was not hanging around for the national anthems; emotions and those papaya colours could not have been more juxtaposed.

Norris’s cruel retirement from second in the field on Sunday with eight laps to go, the result of an oil leak due to a suspected chassis issue, has changed the whole complexion of this season’s F1 championship race. A gap to teammate Piastri, which was at nine points pre-race – and was set to increase to 16 – now stands at 34 points. In a campaign of fine margins between the McLaren duo, it is a game-changing moment.

Piastri said: “It’s a bit more difficult [for Norris] now, but I don’t expect much to change.

“I think we’ll race each other the same way. I think the amount of risk taking will be the same.

“We’re both trying to be as fast as we can. It’s not like we’ve been holding anything back from that side of things. So I don’t expect anything to change.”

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has acknowledged that the team’s engine project for 2026 is a “crazy” undertaking.

Mekies, who replaced the axed Christian Horner in July, has one eye focused on the sport’s new engine and chassis regulations next year, when Red Bull will take to the track with their own power unit, in partnership with American automotive giant Ford.

A project first announced two-and-a-half years ago, with Horner the figurehead, work continues apace in Milton Keynes for an engine capable of matching the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari.

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 309 points

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 275 points

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 205 points

4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 184 points

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 151 points

6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 109 points

7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 64 points

8. Alex Albon (Williams) – 64 points

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) – 37 points

10. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 37 points

Cadillac have signed IndyCar star Colton Herta as an F1 test driver, with the American switching back to the European single-seater pyramid in the hope of an F1 seat in the future.

Herta, 25, has been linked with an F1 switch for a number of years and there was speculation that American team Cadillac could pick him as a home driver for their debut in the sport next year.

While they instead acquired the services of experienced drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, Herta has now been announced as a test driver, returning to Europe where he previously raced in British F3 as a teenager.

Piastri now has a 34-point lead over Norris after the Brit’s unfortunate retirement in Zandvoort:

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 309 points

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 275 points

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 205 points

4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 184 points

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 151 points

6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 109 points

7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 64 points

8. Alex Albon (Williams) – 64 points

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) – 37 points

10. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 37 points

11. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 32 points

12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 30 points

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 27 points

14. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 20 points

15. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 20 points

16. Ollie Bearman (Haas) – 16 points

17. Carlos Sainz (Williams) – 16 points

18. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) – 14 points

19. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) – 12 points

20. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – 0 points

21. Jack Doohan (Alpine) – 0 points