What happened in Italian GP’s sole Friday practice

Lewis Hamilton was quickest in the sole Formula 1 Friday practice session at Monza before Italian Grand Prix qualifying later today.

Key moments:

> Hamilton fastest on mediums

> Verstappen 0.452s adrift on softs

> Norris’ P2 lap deleted

> Perez 10th, after leading early in session

Monza will host the second of F1’s new sprint races on Saturday, meaning qualifying will take place on Friday evening.

The field only had the 60-minute FP1 session to prepare their cars before they enter parc ferme before qualifying.

After session-leading spells for Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, Hamilton pulled half a second clear of the field on a 1m20.926s on the medium tyres.

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This was 0.452s faster than F1 championship leader Max Verstappen – still without an F1 podium at Monza – on the soft tyres, with Valtteri Bottas just under a tenth adrift in third place.

Lando Norris set a tow-assisted laptime that would have been good enough to place him second-fastest behind Hamilton, but his lap was deleted for a track limits violation.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was fourth-quickest ahead of Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri and team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Carlos Sainz was seventh for Ferrari ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who hasn’t reached Q3 at Monza since 2014.

Ricciardo also had his fastest laptime deleted but ultimately fell to ninth place ahead of another early session leader Perez in the second Red Bull.

Charles Leclerc – another driver to lose a fastest lap – was 11th ahead of Norris and Antonio Giovinazzi, who continues to fight for his future at Alfa Romeo.

It's back! 🙌@GeorgeRussell63 🤜🤛 helmet cam#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/UqnlKT29t1

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 10, 2021

George Russell carried the onboard helmet camera on route to 17th place for Williams, one place behind his 2019 team-mate Robert Kubica, who continues to deputise for Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo.

Practice 1 Results