Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton set a commanding pace during opening practice for Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
With Formula 1 using its Sprint format for only the second time Friday afternoon’s one-hour session at Monza was the sole running prior to qualifying.
Hamilton clocked a time of 1:20.926s to finish 0.452s clear of title rival Max Verstappen.
Hamilton used the Medium tyres for his quickest time, having opted against a run on Softs, while Verstappen’s best effort came on the softest compound.
McLaren driver Lando Norris had set a time provisionally quick enough for second but it was deleted after he was judged to have exceeded track limits at Parabolica.
Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who went fourth, also had his effort erased for the same transgression.
Valtteri Bottas finished third for Mercedes, over half a second behind his team-mate, while Aston Martin had a prosperous session with Lance Stroll fourth and Sebastian Vettel sixth.
They were split by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, victor of last year’s Italian Grand Prix.
Ferrari endured a horror show of a weekend on home soil 12 months ago but was back in the mix on Friday, with Carlos Sainz seventh and Charles Leclerc 11th.
Fernando Alonso was the lead Alpine in eighth spot, with Esteban Ocon down in 15th place after encountering traffic on his hot lap.
Ricciardo and Norris wound up ninth and 12th respectively due to their deleted lap times.
Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 as his difficult run of form with Red Bull continued.
Qualifying for Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix is scheduled for 18:00 local time
[motorsport_result id=’72537′]
