#ItalianGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen tops time-sheets ahead of @Carlossainz55. #F1

Verstappen Italian GP FP1 – Championship leader Max Verstappen was quickest in the FP1 session at the Italian GP pipping Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by a very narrow 0.046 seconds whilst the former’s team-mate Sergio Perez was a further 0.117 adrift in third.

Verstappen posted the benchmark of a 1:22.657 on the C3 white side-walled harder compounds with Sainz and Perez also posting their best efforts on the hards.

The alternative tyre allocation for the Italian Grand Prix weekend, following on from its initial trial in Hungary, restricted the number of tyres they could use during the session at the usual 13 sets was dropped to 11.

This saw a variety of different approaches from all ten teams, as some opted to save sets in the opening phase of the Free Practice One to keep potentially an extra set for qualifying.

Verstappen and Perez stuck with the harder rubber for the opening part of proceedings, and switched places at the top with the Ferrari pairing, Mercedes and McLaren’s  Piastri on the C5 red-marked softs.

Sainz was the first in the 1:23’s on the hards, but Verstappen then found half-a-tenth on the Spaniard. During the opening 15 minutes of proceedings, Piastri set a 1:23.446, but this was again beaten by Sainz as the Ferrari driver pushed in-front of his team’s home crowd.

Verstappen then posted a 1:23.027, and then clipped nearly 0.4 seconds off his effort during his next flyer to extend his advantage over Red Bull team-mate Perez. The duo were then split by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the next driver to get into the 1:23’s bracket. Perez improved to reclaim second in the classification, but then was trounced by Sainz’s time.

Leclerc needed some adjustments in the garage but remained 0.309 seconds off of Verstappen as the two special liveried Ferrari’s – featuring a splash of yellow as a tribute to the Prancing Horse’s 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans triumph – rounded out the top four.

Mercedes’ George Russell was fifth quickest, also running the C3 harder tyre, over the C2 yellow-branded medium runner Fernando Alonso who took seventh.

McLaren’s Lando Norris placed seventh on the softs, over fellow British-compatriot Sir Lewis Hamilton who came eighth in the classification in the other Mercedes F1 W14 entry.

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda put his AT04 racer ninth in the order as Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon completed the top 10.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was outside the top ten in 11th place and in-front of Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant 12th, AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson 13th and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly 14th.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas placed 15th following some earlier issues and ahead of Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg who finished 16th and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who ended opening practice 17th in the order.

Aston Martin reserve Felipe Drugovich (piloting in-place of regular Lance Stroll for FP1) was 18th and in-front of Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who took 19th and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who also suffered issues with his C43 racer like his team-mate brought up the rear.

You can read the full Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio D’Italia 2023 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1218/italy/practice-1.html

#F1 @Pirelli #ItalianGP 2023 Preview. #Formula1 #ItalianGrandPrix