Max Verstappen seventh at FP1 on a wet Monza

Published on 31 August 2018 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen came in seventh fastest at the first free practice in the run-up to the Italian Grand Prix. On the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza the youngster led the field for a long time but it was Sergio Perez who eventually put his Racing Point Force India in P1. Team mate Esteban Ocon was third fastest, while Ferrari running Kimi Raikkonen was second.

At the start of the first free practice session, the track is soaked due to continuous rain prior to the session. Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg are, with still seven minutes on the clock, ready at the end of the pit lane. All the cars are heading out on track on the full wets. In the first lap already, Ricciardo comes to a standstill. “I have a problem”, he says on the radio. “No power”. The unlucky Ozzie, who went out on track with the new spec C-engine from Renault, is able to get back to the pits on his own.

After well over ten minutes, Max is out on track on a set of the intermediates, he does an installation lap and returns back to the pits. At the rear of his RB14 , as oppose to Ricciardo’s car, he still has the Renault spec B-power unit. Hulkenberg is eventually the first one to get a timed lap. Well into the session, about half an hour in, Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz and Raikkonen have also joined him. At that moment Ricciardo re-appears on track. The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-team has by then solved the softwareproblem.

Max is back out on the tarmac not much later and he as well gets a time on the leaderboard, albeit he is last. The Dutchman is just able to keep his RB14 out of a spin in Parabolica during his first timed lap. “All good, just a little drift”, is what he wittingly remarks on the radio. Moments later he moves up to P3 after a better lap on a set of the inters. Halfway the session, we see both Mercedes leading the pack and Max in P7.

At McLaren Lando Norris is driving Stoffel Vandoorne’s car. The Britt has only taken over the steering wheel for the first free practice in the McLaren, later on today the Belgian driver will reclaim his automobile. Max has by now dropped down the ranks to P12 while his team mate is dangling at the bottom of the leaderboard. At Ferrari they are busy working on the floor of Vettel’s car. Whether we see the German back in this practice remains the question.

With well over half an hour left on the clock, we see both Bulls on track. Ricciardo is not able to advance on the leaderboard but Max all the more, we see him move up to P4. A lap later that even turns to P1. His engineer tells him to box. “One more lap”, is the youngster’s reply after which he quickly heads back to the pits. Behind of Max is Bottas’ Mercedes in second, then is his team mate Hamilton.

In the closing stages the track starts getting drier and Brendon Hartley grabs P1 from Max. Not much later, Ricciardo also passes the Dutchman who has by now gotten out of his car. Pierre Gasly briefly advances to P2, causing the top-five to briefly be formed by only Red Bull-drivers: Hartley, Ricciardo, Gasly, Max and Sainz. Raikkonen is a spoilsport when he snatches P1 from Hartley.

In the final minutes, we see Racing Point Force India advance strongly. Perez puts his car in first after the chequered flag dropped,while Ocon comes in third fastest. Just behind of Raikkonen who finishes the session in P2.

Italian GP contest: win a signed orange Max Verstappen driver cap!

Results first free practice Italy: