Sergio Pérez was quickest in a rain interrupted Free Practice 1 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.
The Racing Point Force India F1 Team had a strong session with Esteban Ocon finishing third fastest although the forecast suggests the rain will stay away on Saturday and Sunday.
Monza sees the tifosi come out in full force and they had something to celebrate as Kimi Räikkönen was second quickest for Scuderia Ferrari but team-mate Sebastian Vettel only completed four laps due to the team needing to change the gearbox as he was seventeenth quickest.
The Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda cars had a strong showing too with Brendon Hartley fourth and Pierre Gasly sixth ahead of the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing pair.
Daniel Ricciardo was fifth but had issues at the start of the session as the team tried out the new engine and was forced to crawl back to the pits on his installation lap.
Max Verstappen was one of many drivers struggling to find grip as he spun out of the final corner on his way to seventh fastest.
The Renault Sport Formula One Team duo of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Nico Hülkenberg were eighth and ninth with Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport rounding out the top ten.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was eleventh with Charles Leclerc ahead of Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso.
Romain Grosjean finished fifteenth ahead of Marcus Ericsson and Vettel with the two Williams Martini Racing eighteenth and nineteenth with Sergey Sirotkin ahead of Lance Stroll.
Lando Norris stepped in for a second successive weekend as he replaced Stoffel Vandoorne in the McLaren F1 Team and finished slowest of the twenty cars but didn’t go out in the latter stages of the session when the track was at its quickest.
Another wet session is expected this afternoon, so drivers will once again need to be careful not to find the barriers in these tricky conditions.
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