ITALIAN GP – Max Verstappen fastest by a quarter of a second in first practice
Max Verstappen was fastest in the first practice for the Italian Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver set a 21.676 to go just under a quarter of a second faster than Charles Leclerc. The three-time champion this weekend is looking to bounce back and return to winning ways having not won a race since June.
It was a perfect start by Verstappen after struggling over recent races, but Monza was expected to be more favourable for the team which has struggled over the last five races which has been bumpy and hilly where the car has appeared unsettled. Lando Norris was almost a quarter of a second behind.
Norris put his McLaren third fastest to split the two Ferrari’s, he was a hundredth and a half behind Leclerc and was ahead of his former teammate Carlos Sainz by two-tenths. However at this early phase of the weekend, Red Bull once again doesn’t appear to have a huge advantage over McLaren.
A strong session by Valtteri Bottas saw him put his Sauber fifth he was just a thousandth of a second behind Sainz and ahead of the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri by seven-tenths. But McLaren are likely to close the gap to Red Bull over the remainder of the weekend.
Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes seventh, but all eyes were on the man set to replace him next year Kimi Antonelli. But for the Italian it was not the perfect introduction to F1 at his home Grand Prix, Antonelli had gone fastest in the middle sector when he lost control through the Parabolica.
There could have been multiple factors involved, but he had a huge snap from the car midway through the final corner possibly caused by taking too much speed and catching wind. That sent him off into the wall early on in the session, causing a ten-minute red flag.
Team principal Toto Wolff immediately told him “it’s all good” on the radio after his accident, with Antonelli later cleared from the medical centre.
Though that limited Antonelli’s running, he did look quick matching Hamilton and on the lap he crashed looked set to push the Englishman off the top based on his first two sectors. However several drivers were being caught out by the wind causing the car to snap.
Alex Albon put his Williams eighth, he was nearly a tenth ahead of Sergio Perez while Fernando Alonso completed the top ten. Albon has a new teammate Franco Colapinto who replaces Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the season, the Argentine was seventeenth despite a trip through the gravel.
Colapinto narrowly evaded a moment similar to Antonelli at the end of the session by losing the rear in the Parabolica but managed to get enough braking in to avoid the wall and clear the gravel trap.
Kevin Magnussen put his Haas eleventh the Dane missed out on the top ten by over three-tenths, but he three hundredths faster than the RBs. Daniel Ricciardo going a tenth faster than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Pierre Gasly was two-tenths behind Tsunoda as he put the Alpine nearly a tenth faster than Guanyu Zhou.
Lance Stroll put his Aston Martin sixteenth going two-tenths faster than Colapinto, and Esteban Ocon was eighteenth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. While Antonelli’s crash left him bottom of the times.