Max Verstappen secures fastest time in the opening session of the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, while both Ferrari drivers finish in the top spot
Max Verstappen has secured the fastest time in the first free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. On the high-speed circuit, which on paper looks tailor-made for the Red Bull, Verstappen beat Carlos Sainz (Ferrari/+0.046) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull/+0.177) into second and third place at the start of the 15th of 23 race weekends of the 2023 Formula One season
The first free practice session took place on a dry track, with an air temperature of 25 degrees, and remained largely without incident. The same was true for Brazilian Felipe Drugovich (18th /+1.483), the Aston Martin test driver who was allowed to take Friday practice in place of Lance Stroll as the first of two scheduled rookie tests.
His team-mate Fernando Alonso was sixth in the first free practice session, 0.557 seconds off Verstappen’s best time. Ahead of Alonso, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari/+0.309) and George Russell (+0.532) were fourth and fifth respectively, with Lando Norris (McLaren/+0.584) seventh ahead of Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes/+0.612).
The start of the practice was quite difficult for the two Ferrari customer teams Haas and Alfa Romeo, at least as far as a superficial look at the lap times is concerned. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), the only German driver in the field, was 16th, 1.410 seconds behind the best time. He was 0.623 seconds off a top-10 finish.
The two Sauber drivers, at the last home grand prix of title sponsor Alfa Romeo before the end of the cooperation with a special Italo livery, complained from the beginning about too much “bouncing” and drove behind the field for long stretches.
A good ten minutes before the end, Bottas reported that the car was now “better” after a lengthy set-up change. He then improved to 15th place, 0.115 seconds ahead of Hülkenberg. Guanyu Zhou finished 20th and last (1.658).
Where can you watch the Italian Grand Prix on TV?
For hardcore fans, the Formula 1 day ends on the YouTube channel of Formel1.de. On Friday evening (time undetermined) there will be a video with a summary of the day, hosted by Kevin Scheuren and chief editor Christian Nimmervoll in the paddock in Monza. On Saturday and Sunday evenings, the two will stream a detailed analysis live every evening.
Those who want to watch all the sessions live can do so on Sky. In addition to qualifying and the race, Sky also shows all free practice sessions in full length. Qualifying starts at 16:00 on Saturday (preliminary reports from 15:30), the race on Sunday starts at 15:00 (preliminary reports already from 13:30).
Watching Sky is not only worthwhile because of the live broadcasts of the sessions, but also because of the team of experts around former Formula 1 driver Timo Glock, who will not only be commentating in Monza, but also driving himself as a guest entrant in the Porsche Supercup, which will also be shown by Sky.
