Practice report
Formula 1 Italian GP
Italian GP: Perez leads wet FP1 from Raikkonen, Ocon
Sergio Perez set the pace in opening practice for the Italian Grand Prix as heavy rain early on Friday led to a jumbled order in FP1 at Monza.
Scott Mitchell
Edited: Aug 31, 2018, 11:17 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Racing Point Force India driver Perez ousted Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen from top spot on his final lap of the session, with Esteban Ocon third for the team that was effectively reincarnated last weekend in Belgium.
The late improvements stopped Brendon Hartley, Toro Rosso and Honda from being surprise pacesetters in FP1, which started in very wet conditions and did not quite dry enough for slick tyres at the end.
Despite heavy rain in the morning and the cancellation of the GP3 practice session, the 90-minute session began on time.
Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg parked their cars at the end of the pitlane several minutes before the start, and were the first to hit the soaking track.
The first 15 minutes or so featured sporadic running on full-wet tyres, before some started to sample intermediate rubber.
Times tumbled as the conditions improved, with Hulkenberg, Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton hitting the top of the pile before the halfway part of the session.
Bottas usurped Hamilton almost exactly at the 45-minute mark, then Verstappen hit the front for the first time.
The Dutchman should have gone quickest earlier in the session but spun exiting the Parabolica on a flying lap.
His 1m35.665s on a drying track kept him fastest until just before the end of the session.
Hartley jumped to top spot in the closing minutes with a 1m35.024s and briefly headed a Toro Rosso-Honda one-two as teammate Pierre Gasly lapped four tenths slower.
Ricciardo then split the Toro Rossos with a 1m35.207s, before Raikkonen, Ocon and Perez demoted Hartley with even later improvements.
Raikkonen set two personal bests in a row but his 1m34.550s was beaten by Perez on the Mexican's final lap of the session.
Ocon also improved on his last effort to lap within half a tenth of Raikkonen in third.
The Red Bull-backed quartet of Hartley, Ricciardo, Gasly and Verstappen were next up, with Sainz, Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas completing the top 10.
Championship contenders Hamilton and Vettel were 11th and 17th respectively after only completing 10 laps between them.
The slippery conditions caught out several drivers, but most only suffered a time-consuming trip through the run-off, or gravel in Ricciardo's case when he ran wide exiting the second Lesmo.
Raikkonen was a regular visitor to the escape road at the Roggia chicane.
The Finn locked up and slid wide several times at the corner that kicks off the middle sector but settled down when the track dried.
Cla Driver Chassis Engine Laps Time Gap 1 
Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 18 1'34.000 2 
Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari 28 1'34.550 0.550 3 
Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 17 1'34.593 0.593 4 
Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Honda 17 1'35.024 1.024 5 
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG 13 1'35.207 1.207 6 
Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Honda 19 1'35.438 1.438 7 
Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG 10 1'35.665 1.665 8 
Carlos Sainz Renault Renault 15 1'35.995 1.995 9 
Nico Hulkenberg Renault Renault 15 1'36.107 2.107 10 
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes 8 1'36.238 2.238 11 
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 6 1'36.546 2.546 12 
Charles Leclerc Sauber Ferrari 10 1'36.648 2.648 13 
Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 13 1'37.066 3.066 14 
Fernando Alonso McLaren Renault 14 1'37.426 3.426 15 
Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 13 1'37.683 3.683 16 
Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 11 1'37.790 3.790 17 
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari 4 1'37.867 3.867 18 
Sergey Sirotkin Williams Mercedes 10 1'37.929 3.929 19 
Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 8 1'38.253 4.253 20 Lando Norris McLaren Renault 9 1'38.282 4.282
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Hulkenberg to join Ricciardo at back of Monza grid
Next article Formula 1 announces 2019 draft calendar
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Latest news
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 3 min
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 1 h
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 1 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 2 h
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe