Nico Muller tops opening GP3 practice session at Monza
Nico Muller upstaged the GP3 championship contenders to top the first free practice session of the weekend at Monza
Five drivers have a mathematical shot at the title this weekend, although realistically the showdown is between ART team-mates Valtteri Bottas and James Calado.
But nobody could do anything about Muller (Jenzer) once the Swiss driver moved to the top with six minutes remaining in practice, and went quicker still with his next flying lap.
Title outsider Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Manor) was a factor throughout the 30 minutes, and he engaged in a scrap for second with points leader Bottas during the last five minutes.
In the end the ART driver could not respond to the Briton's pace, but more importantly for Bottas he was just ahead of Calado.
Bottas's session was not without incident though, as he took a hard hit over the kerbs at the first chicane which sent his car into the air. Rookie team-mate Richie Stanaway did the same a lap later, but at higher speed.
Behind the top two in the standings, Tech 1's Aaro Vainio put in an impressive penultimate lap to gatecrash the top five just ahead of MW Arden driver Lewis Williamson.
Of the other two drivers in mathematical title contention, Alexander Sims (Status) was 16th and Mucke's Nigel Melker, who is the closest challenger to the ART pairing at the top, was only 18th.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m43.961s 2. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 1m44.127s + 0.166s 3. Valtteri Bottas ART 1m44.341s + 0.380s 4. James Calado ART 1m44.421s + 0.460s 5. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 1m44.424s + 0.463s 6. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1m44.518s + 0.557s 7. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS 1m44.568s + 0.607s 8. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m44.634s + 0.673s 9. Tom Dillmann Addax 1m44.714s + 0.753s 10. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke 1m44.715s + 0.754s 11. Antonio Felix da Costa Status 1m44.742s + 0.781s 12. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1m44.778s + 0.817s 13. Richie Stanaway ART 1m44.930s + 0.969s 14. Gabby Chaves Addax 1m44.963s + 1.002s 15. Conor Daly Carlin 1m44.999s + 1.038s 16. Alexander Sims Status 1m45.020s + 1.059s 17. Rio Haryanto Manor 1m45.100s + 1.139s 18. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 1m45.185s + 1.224s 19. Ivan Lukashevich Status 1m45.238s + 1.277s 20. Thomas Hylkema Tech 1 1m45.274s + 1.313s 21. Callum Macleod Carlin 1m45.275s + 1.314s 22. Maxim Zimin Jenzer 1m45.400s + 1.439s 23. Mattias Laine Manor 1m45.429s + 1.468s 24. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 1m45.570s + 1.609s 25. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS 1m45.600s + 1.639s 26. Vittorio Ghirelli Addax 1m45.730s + 1.769s 27. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 1m45.864s + 1.903s 28. Leonardo Cordeiro Carlin 1m46.126s + 2.165s 29. Daniel Mancinelli RSC Mucke 1m47.390s + 3.429s 30. Christophe Hurni Jenzer 1m47.398s + 3.437s
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