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Formula 1
Italian GP
F1 Italian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 and Qualifying
The first practice session and qualifying for the sprint race at Monza
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Out in Q1: P16 Latifi, P17 Tsunoda, P18 Schumacher, P19 Kubica, P20 Mazepin.
Hold on, Tsunoda has had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits which promotes Russell to P15 and into Q2!
Tsunoda rescues himself, just, in P15 to see Russell drop out right on the bubble.
Checkered flag
Vettel's final lap in Q1 puts him P8 so he should be safely through, that drops Tsunoda into the danger zone.
The F1 drivers are doing a good impression of the Friday night traffic just outside of the circuit. Slow moving cars everywhere! All looking for that tow which could be the difference between Q1 and Q2.
Two minutes to go in Q1 and Vettel, Ocon, Schumacher, Mazepin and Kubica are in the drop zone.
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"It is so difficult to drive," Leclerc reports over his Ferrari team radio, which means that his engine issue is still troubling him. But he is up to P5 and should be safe in this session.
Lots of lap times being lost for track limits; Norris, Tsunoda and Alonso among the latest to lose out. Meanwhile an incident involving Mazepin and Kubica has also been noted down. Not another one.
A pitlane incident involving Leclerc and Mazepin has been noted by race control - the two drivers came out of the garage at the same time and came close to banging wheels but thankfully avoided each other.
Verstappen's next lap is ruined by a traffic jam created by some Aston Martins and Alpines, forcing the Red Bull driver to ease off. This is going to get messy.
Meanwhile Verstappen dips his left-side wheels on to the gravel and loses time, meaning he is only P9 so far in this session.
Stopwatch
Here come the Mercedes drivers. Hamilton puts in a 1m20.543s to go top in Q1 with Bottas slotting into P2 almost three-tenths slower.
Mechanical problem
Leclerc has reported an engine issue with his Ferrari and is told to pit where his team aims to solve it during the session. He'll need it to be a quick fix with only 11 minutes of Q1 left.
Stopwatch
Verstappen goes faster but not for long as Norris puts in a 1m21.681s to go top for McLaren.
Stopwatch
Sainz sets the best lap time of the early runners with a 1m22.495s, while Schumacher saw his first lap time deleted for exceeding track limits.
With it being the F1 sprint format this weekend, all drivers will be on the softs for each qualifying segment in this session. Easy peasy.
After a 60-second standoff a sudden rush to pit exit is on. Leclerc leads the way ahead of Ferrari team-mate Sainz which seems fitting here at Monza.
Lights green
Here we go, Q1 is underway.
Sun
A quick check on the sky and it is very cloudy but the F1 weather forecasters predict a 0% chance of rain. Just might need headlights if the sessions get delayed with sunset only 45 minutes after the scheduled end of Q3.
But pole isn't everything at Monza, just ask Gasly, who qualified 10th last year and we all know what happened that weekend...
For what it’s worth, Hamilton has secured pole at Monza seven times in his F1 career, while world title rival Verstappen has never qualified inside the top four.
We'll worry about the sprint race permutations later on as the focus now is on qualifying. Mercedes and Hamilton have been given the heavy favourite tag for pole but we've heard that before this year and been surprised.
Breaking news
On the F1 sprint theme and fresh off the press, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto is pleased with changes being considered to the format and thinks it could open the door to use reversed grids. Here's the full story: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ferrari-hopes-f1-sprint-race-changes-open-door-for-reverse-grids/6664256/
As a quick reminder it is the second F1 sprint format this weekend so it is the regular qualifying session over the next hour-and-a-bit to decide the grid for Saturday's sprint race.
Green flag
Good afternoon, or early evening, depending on your fancy or time zone. It is almost time for qualifying - that's right!
Thanks for joining us for FP1 - remember, we've got qualifying coming up at 5pm BST which sets the grid for the sprint race tomorrow. See you then!
If you missed any of that practice session, then here's the full report from Luke Smith: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hamilton-leads-verstappen-in-opening-italian-gp-practice/6664117/
Of course, the corner will be officially re-named the Curva Alboreto in a ceremony tomorrow to honour ex-Ferrari racer Michele Alboreto - who was killed in a testing crash at the Lausitzring in 2001. Will you always think of the corner as the Parabolica first and foremost?
So, who has the most work to do? You could argue the answer to that question is 'the drivers' after a number of track limits violations at Parabolica...
After that frenetic hour of action, the teams have just over two hours to work on their cars - after which they will be put into parc ferme conditions.
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Kubica beat his 2019 team-mate Russell to P16 on his second outing subbing for Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo, while Latifi, Mazepin and Schumacher rounded out the order.
After his various track limits indiscretions, Leclerc ended up an unrepresentative P11 ahead of Norris (another to fall foul of the white line at Parabolica), Giovinazzi, Tsunoda and Ocon.
Sainz, who had his final lap deleted for track limits, Alonso, Ricciardo and Perez complete the top 10 - the latter pair each having spent periods at the head of the timesheets.
Defending Monza winner Gasly was fifth, just ahead of three-time Italian GP victor Vettel (2008, 2011, 2013) for Aston Martin.
Bottas ended up third, with Stroll the best of the rest in fourth after Leclerc had his best lap deleted.
Hamilton set his benchmark 1m20.926s on mediums, while Verstappen went 0.4s slower on the soft.
So at the end of FP1, it's the usual suspects Hamilton and Verstappen at the head of the charts - although curiously using different tyre compounds to do so.
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