First part of free practice
Sunny. Dry. Air +25C, rail +37C
After the cold and rainy weather in Zandvoort, the first autumn day in Monza was as warm as in summer. The Italian circuit calls for unique settings that have not been applied this year – and the riders took to the track from the first minutes.
At Aston Martin there was a temporary replacement: Felipe Drugovich got behind the wheel of Lance Stroll’s car, but the Canadian returns in the second session.
On Friday there were already many fans in red colors and a full house is expected on Sunday. At Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, on the Italian podium they changed the color of the cars, the atmosphere of the holiday was everywhere.
Guanyu Zhou stopped at the exit of the pit lane – the mechanics rolled him into the pits, his teammate Valtteri Bottas stopped a few meters after the pits – and the team started looking for reasons. Alfa Romeo and Williams drivers missed the first 20 minutes of practice, but Alfa Romeo had more problems with a system that prevents the engine from stalling. Bottas and Zhou returned to the pits and handed the cars over to the mechanics for a long time, but were then able to leave.
The session went smoothly, with only a few outings off track with no consequences for the drivers and cars. The best time was set by Max Verstappen with a lap time of 1:22.657.
Results of the first session
| Pilot | Team | Time | Difference | Circles |
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:22,657 | – | 31 |
| 2. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 1:22,703 | +0.046 | 28 |
| 3. C. Perez | Red Bull | 1:22,834 | +0.177 | thirty |
| 4. Sh. Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:22,966 | +0.309 | 22 |
| 5. D Russell | Mercedes | 1:23.189 | +0.532 | 28 |
| 6. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:23.214 | +0.557 | 24 |
| 7. L. Norris | McLaren | 1:23,241 | +0.584 | 22 |
| 8. L Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:23,269 | +0.612 | 26 |
| 9. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:23,271 | +0.614 | 23 |
| 10. A. Albon | Williams | 1:23,444 | +0.787 | 18 |
| 11. O. Piastri | McLaren | 1:23,446 | +0.789 | 24 |
| 12. L. Sargent | Williams | 1:23,661 | +1,004 | 21 |
| 13. L. Lawson | AlphaTauri | 1:23,833 | +1,176 | 29 |
| 14. P.Gasly | Alps | 1:23,931 | +1,274 | 26 |
| 15. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:23,952 | +1,295 | 17 |
| 16. N. Hulkenberg | hare | 1:24,067 | +1,410 | 23 |
| 17. E. Okon | Alps | 1:24,090 | +1,433 | 26 |
| 18. F.Drugovich | Aston Martin | 1:24.140 | +1,483 | 24 |
| 19. K. Magnussen | hare | 1:24.217 | +1,560 | 24 |
| 20. G Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1:24.232 | +1,658 | 17 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
