WEC Monza 2026 after 1 hour: Aitken leads as Ferrari hits trouble

Jack Aitken took the lead from Daniel Juncadella in traffic and kept the #38 Cadillac in front through the first round of stops at the 2026 FIA WEC 6 Hours of Monza. He led the #19 Genesis by 1.225 seconds after 29 laps as the opening hour ended behind the Safety Car. The pole-sitting #50 Ferrari was down to 16th after a tyre-pressure warning, while the #87 Lexus led LMGT3.

Aitken takes the lead as Ferrari loses ground

Miguel Molina started the #50 Ferrari 499P from the pole Antonio Fuoco had secured in Hyperpole. Juncadella went through the first chicane’s escape road and emerged in front, while Aitken passed Molina at the second chicane to put the Cadillac second. Once the Hypercars caught the LMGT3 field, Aitken used the traffic to get past the Genesis on the approach to Parabolica, around 12 minutes into the race.

Molina was still in the front group when race control showed the #50 a black flag with an orange disc around the half-hour mark, requiring the Ferrari to pit for a tyre change. The #83 AF Corse Ferrari was also called in over tyre pressures. Both cars received 20-second penalties for running below the minimum pressure. Each had already made two stops by the end of the hour, with Molina 16th and Philip Hanson 17th.

After wet practice had left Antonio Giovinazzi with limited dry-tyre running, the #51 gave Ferrari its strongest opening stint. Giovinazzi set the fastest lap of the hour, a 1:34.897, then passed Juncadella under braking at the Roggia chicane to take second. The Genesis had already picked up a five-second penalty for failing to follow race control’s start instructions.

Ascari incident brings out the Safety Car

Contact between the #79 Iron Lynx Mercedes and the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin sent the Aston spinning at Ascari. The #10 Garage 59 McLaren ended up in the gravel in the same incident. Race control deployed the Virtual Safety Car, then the Safety Car.

Aitken, Giovinazzi and Jules Gounon stopped during the neutralisation, with Juncadella staying out longer. James Calado took over the #51 at its stop and came out behind Gounon’s #36 Alpine. At the hour, Gounon was third, 2.252 seconds off the lead, with Calado fourth and Loïc Duval fifth in the #94 Peugeot.

The two Toyotas were still outside the top ten. Sébastien Buemi ran 12th in the #8, one place ahead of Mike Conway in the #7. The #8 crew had arrived with a 17-point advantage over its sister car in the only remaining Hypercar drivers’ title fight.

Lexus takes over in LMGT3 after the stops

Tom Van Rompuy initially held the class lead in the #78 Lexus after Hadrien David put it on pole. Eric Powell took first for the #77 Proton Competition Ford at the opening chicane. The sister #88 Ford of Stefano Gattuso worked its way into the lead battle but received a five-second stop-and-go penalty for exceeding the power limit.

The stops put Petru Umbrărescu’s #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus in front. He ended the hour 1.510 seconds ahead of Powell, with Salih Yoluç third in the #34 Corvette. Ben Keating was fourth in the championship-leading #33 TF Sport Corvette, while its closest title rival, the #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche, ran ninth in class.