Italian GP: Free Practice #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

ITALIAN GP - FREE PRACTICE #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    As another race weekend begins, it was Sergio Perez who topped a rainy Free Practice 1 in Italy. 

    Perez, who has announced he has signed a contract for 2019, but hasn't yet said where, took the top spot in the session with a 1:34.000.

    Kimi Raikkonen was close behind in second with a 1:34.550, while Perez's team-mate, Ocon, finished in 3rd with a 1:34.593. Ocon's future is currently in doubt as it's looking more likely that Lance Stroll may take over his seat and possibly before this season even ends.

    Brendon Hartley, who is also facing an uncertain future, came 4th on the time-sheets. The Kiwi put in a 1:35.024. Daniel Ricciardo, who faced some mechanical issues early on in the session, rounded up the top 5.

    F2 driver, Lando Norris, was granted another free practice session for McLaren. This time around he took over for Stoffel Vandoorne. It was a rough session for the young British driver though as he finished last in 20th with a 1:38.282.

    It was a good session for Toro Rosso. Not only was Hartley 4th, but Gasly wasn't far behind as he finished in 6th with a 1:35.438.

    Mercedes was unusually further down in the times and not up in front like most sessions. Bottas was 10th and Hamilton 11th. Even further down was Sebastian Vettel, who finished in 17th with a 1:37.867.

    Verstappen, Sainz and Hulkenberg also finished in the top 10.

TIMES:

1. Sergio Perez - 1:34.000 / Racing Point Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
2. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:34.550 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
3. Esteban Ocon - 1:34.593 / Racing Point Force India-Mercedes / France
4. Brendon Hartley - 1:35.024 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand
5. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:35.207 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia
6. Pierre Gasly - 1:35.438 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France
7. Max Verstappen - 1:35.665 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
8. Carlos Sainz - 1:35.995 / Renault-Renault / Spain
9. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:36.107 / Renault-Renault / Germany
10. Valtteri Bottas - 1:36.238 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
11. Lewis Hamilton - 1:36.546 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany
12. Charles Leclerc - 1:36.648 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco
13. Kevin Magnussen - 1:37.066 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
14. Fernando Alonso - 1:37.426 / McLaren-Renault / Spain
15. Romain Grosjean - 1:37.683 / Haas-Ferrari / France
16. Marcus Ericsson - 1:37.790 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
17. Sebastian Vettel - 1:37.867 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
18. Sergey Sirotkin - 1:37.929 / Williams-Mercedes / Russia
19. Lance Stroll - 1:38.253 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
20. Lando Norris - 1:38.282 / McLaren-Renault / Great Britain*

* - Notes participating in FP1 only

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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