Mercedes and Hamilton on top at Monza for FP1

© XPB 

Lewis Hamilton emerged as the fastest runner in Monza's temple of speed in the first free practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

Hamilton concluded his morning of work in Italy with a blistering 1:21.537, keeping his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas at a fair distance of 0.435s.

It was team formation all the way back to P8 but Mercedes' advantage over arch-rival Ferrari was over one second while Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were separated by just 0.037s.

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen also flew in formation for Red Bull in fifth and sixth, followed by the competitive but reined in Force India pair of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.

Stoffel Vandoorne brought glimmers of hope to McLaren and Honda with a P9 performance and Felipe Massa closed off the top ten standings for Williams.

Rain was an ever-present threat throughout the session, enticing drivers to take to the track early on although ultimately only sporadic drizzles fell from the skies.

Adverse weather is still on its way however and could affect the afternoon session.

Italian Grand Prix - Free Practice 1 results

PosDriverTeamTimeGapLaps
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:21.537s28
2Valtteri BottasMercedes1:21.972s+ 0.435s31
3Sebastian VettelFerrari1:22.652s+ 1.115s24
4Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:22.689s+ 1.152s28
5Daniel RicciardoRed Bull1:22.742s+ 1.205s28
6Max VerstappenRed Bull1:22.749s+ 1.212s23
7Sergio PérezForce India1:23.317s+ 1.780s36
8Esteban OconForce India1:23.400s+ 1.863s34
9Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren1:23.465s+ 1.928s24
10Felipe MassaWilliams1:23.561s+ 2.024s37
11Carlos SainzToro Rosso1:23.680s+ 2.143s22
12Kevin MagnussenHaas1:23.973s+ 2.436s22
13Lance StrollWilliams1:23.991s+ 2.454s30
14Daniil KvyatToro Rosso1:24.012s+ 2.475s27
15Fernando AlonsoMcLaren1:24.015s+ 2.478s17
16Romain GrosjeanHaas1:24.079s+ 2.542s22
17Nico HülkenbergRenault1:24.542s+ 3.005s17
18Jolyon PalmerRenault1:25.166s+ 3.629s21
19Pascal WehrleinSauber1:25.223s+ 3.686s26
20Marcus EricssonSauber1:25.687s+ 4.150s17

 
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