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Formula 1
Italian GP
F1 Italian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Updates from the Friday practice sessions at Monza for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix
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Max Verstappen comes into the final European race of the season on red-hot form with four consecutive wins, which has seen him stretch his F1 world championship lead to 109 points.
It means the pressure increases on home favourites Ferrari and Charles Leclerc who need a strong performance after a tough run of races.
A host of F1 drivers will take grid penalties into the race, headlined by Lewis Hamilton who will start from the back of the grid for taking an new power unit, after his third one was damaged in his first-lap clash with Fernando Alonso at the Belgian GP.
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Sebastian Vettel will get the keys back for his Aston Martin from Nyck de Vries, while Antonio Giovinazzi hands back over to Mick Schumacher at Haas. Differing fortunes in Formula E for both drivers this year.
We're back! It's not long until FP2 kicks off - just 20 minutes until we've got the usual cast of drivers on track at Monza.
With FP1 in the books at Monza, it is time for a quick break ahead of second practice which gets underway at 4pm BST. Ciao for now!
Breaking news
Here's the full report on first practice:
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-italian-gp-fp1-report-leclerc-beats-sainz-ferrari-1-2/10366276/
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-italian-gp-fp1-report-leclerc-beats-sainz-ferrari-1-2/10366276/
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"Thank you for that," de Vries says over Aston team radio to conclude his FP1 outing. What a polite young man.
Sainz catches the backend of his Ferrari from stepping out on his final FP1 lap, but his momentum means he runs over the gravel trap at the Ascari chicane.
Checkered flag
No further dramas to end the session as the chequered flag is waved. A Ferrari 1-2 at Monza, what the home fans would give for that result on Sunday.
Then Russell almost rearends Sainz as the Ferrari driver goes slow out of the Variante della Roggia chicane. That was a heart in mouth moment.
Just as we make that point de Vries locks up into the Ascari chicane and skips over the gravel trap. No major danger but Aston won't want him doing that again.
Into the closing stages of first practice and there has not been a single disturbance, yellow or red flag, so far in the session. So there is plenty of laps and data to crunch through in the interval.
Vettel is giving strong Bjorn Borg vibes as he watches FP1 from the Aston Martin garage.
A latecomer to the soft tyre runs is Sainz, who goes into second place to create a Ferrari 1-2. What's Italian for "stop the count"?
Breaking news
Here's the latest on the grid penalty higglety-pigglety:
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Russell, on his second timed effort on the softs, moves up to second place with a 1m22.689s - 0.279s off Leclerc.
Ocon, wearing his Michael Schumacher tribute helmet, goes fourth fastest just ahead of Alpine team-mate Alonso. That's the bulk of the soft tyre runs done, with Sainz, Norris and de Vries late to the party.
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Russell meanwhile slots into third place for Mercedes, 0.580s off Leclerc, with team-mate Hamilton going seventh.
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"Unbelievable," is Verstappen's assessment of Norris holding him up while on his first push lap on the softs.
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Or not, as Verstappen is held up by Norris around the Parabolica and loses a chunk of time, which means Verstappen's 1m22.840s puts him four-tenths of a second off Leclerc.
Verstappen, meanwhile, goes quickest through the first and second sector and looks set to return to the top.
Perez goes only eighth quickest on the softs, some 1.6s off Leclerc's leading effort.
Albon sets the fastest first sector time as he goes third. The Williams is slipperier than a slippery thing, but still lacks performance to pack a real punch.
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Leclerc, who has had his Ferrari dipped in yellow paint, goes quickest with a 1m22.410s on the softs. That's 0.443s faster than Verstappen's earlier effort set on hards.
After the short lull, lots of drivers heading out again on the soft tyres. Brace yourself, quick lap times coming up.
Everyone is in the pits to digest the first chunk of FP1 running. They are probably all trying to do the maths on who will start where with the incoming grid penalties.
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Tsunoda, on the softs, goes second quickest with a 1m23.957s, but that is still over a second slower than Verstappen's benchmark set on hards.
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Verstappen goes quicker again, a 1m22.853s on the hards, to put him over one second clear of anyone else.
Gasly is back on track after his earlier issue, as he puts in a lap to put him 10th fastest, so all appears well with his AlphaTauri once again.
Penalty
Here’s the confirmed grid penalty takers so far: Hamilton, Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Bottas and Tsunoda. The size and the order of the shake-up will depend on qualifying, but Hamilton, Bottas and Tsunoda will definitely be at the back.
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Alonso pops up to the top of the times briefly, only be beaten seconds later by Verstappen's 1m23.449s.
Gasly, who was unwell and missed his media duties yesterday, is duly told to pit as his AlphaTauri squad tells him there's a problem with his car.
Gasly gets locked up under braking for the first corner and takes to the zig-zag run-off area.
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Verstappen leads the initial leaderboard with a 1m25.230s set on the hard tyres. Not such a straightforward start for his team-mate Perez, as his DRS flap is flicking around on the main straight.
18 out of 20 drivers on track now, so the early lap times will be coming thick and fast. As will confirmation of the various engine-related grid penalties.
The FP1-only driver has been down to Monza's hardware store and got a pair of massive metal fences attached to his Aston's sidepods. Some serious aero rigs there.
De Vries leads out the early takers, followed by Ocon, Tsunoda, Magnussen and Sainz.
Lights green
Right, here we go for first practice.
This will mark de Vries's third FP1 appearance this season. I wonder if he makes a fourth outing then he'll get a free one next time. Gotta get those loyalty card stamps.
Back to the track action, with first practice underway in five minutes. There's a couple of FP1 special appearances today and both are familiar faces: De Vries is in at Aston Martin in place of Vettel, Giovinazzi is in at Haas instead of Schumacher.
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