Hamilton outpaces Bottas by four tenths and Ferrari by one second on Monza weekend he can claim title lead. Grid penalties for Red Bulls, Alonso and Sainz as engine changes mount up
Monday 4 September 2017 10:14, UK
Lewis Hamilton has maintained his impressive post-summer break form into the start of the Italian GP weekend by setting the Practice One pace at Monza.
On Ferrari's home circuit, Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two by 0.4s from team-mate Valtteri Bottas with championship leader Sebastian Vettel over a second off the pace.
But Mercedes made a similarly commanding start last Friday at the Belgian GP only for Ferrari to get stronger as the weekend progressed, with race victor Hamilton convinced the Italian team ultimately possessed the faster car.
"Mercedes looked good, 1.4 seconds quicker than last year," said Sky F1's Martin Brundle. "I can't believe Ferrari have shown their hand in full yet. I'm not panicking but it does look good for the Merc."
Red Bull were close behind Ferrari on the timesheet but, anticipating a weekend in which they were unlikely to challenge F1 2017's top two, the team have decided to introduce new engine parts on both Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen's cars.
That means the pair will start Sunday's race among the back rows, where they will join McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz who also had engine penalties confirmed on Friday morning.
Grid drops for four drivers at Monza
Red Bull's penalties hand the midfield the chance to enjoy a stronger than normal weekend and Force India started the weekend well as Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished seventh and eighth in opening practice respectively.
After their explosive fallout at Spa, the pair have been told they cannot race each other if there is no wider gain for the team and both have promised the team there will be no repeat of their collisions as the team aims to make up for lost points last weekend.
With Honda introducing the latest step on their troubled engine on Fernando Alonso's car, the Spaniard completed limiting running in P1 on the way to 15th with McLaren to revert to an older unit for the second practice session. Stoffel Vandoorne, who as it stands is penalty-free this weekend, was 10th in the sister car.
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