Leclerc top in second practice, but Mercedes could have quicker race pace
Leclerc fastest in wet-dry first practice
Raikkonen & Perez crash, several cars spin
Rachel T: Charles, Max, Lando - we don’t know how good any of these drivers really are until they have proved themselves in the heat of battle over many seasons. Like Lewis has.
Philip Knott: Leclerc has shown his inexperience and will need to cut down on his mistakes but in terms of talent he's the best driver to join F1 since I started following (2009) bar maybe verstappen and the two of them are miles clear of the rest
Pierre Gasly locks-up and goes off into the run-off at Turn One - exactly the same place as Sebastian Vettel earlier.
Image source, Getty Images
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Monza
The inherent tension in the situation between the two Toro Rosso drivers and Alexander Albon following the swap between the Anglo-Thai and Pierre Gasly for these final nine races was laid bare on Thursday by Daniil Kvyat.
The Russian was asked a question about what was deemed Albon’s good start with Red Bull in Belgium, where after getting a bit stuck in the first stint, he came through the field in the second part of the race to finish fifth. Kvyat took exception to the idea.
“I don't know why you call it such a good start?" he said. “He spent 36 laps behind me in a Red Bull car. And then he started in front of me as well, so I don’t know. Maybe in the future he will do better. Normally I don't [take notice], but I had to because we were fighting the whole race at Spa. If he stayed at Toro Rosso it would have been an amazing race for him, but he was at Red Bull.”
Image source, Getty ImagesYou can see what Kvyat was saying - Albon did get stuck in the first stint and you might have expected him to get through the backmarkers quicker. But there were extenuating circumstances - he had been told by team boss Christian Horner on the grid to stay calm in the first stint and that the car would come to him later in the race; he was on medium tyres and many of those around him (although not Kvyat) were on softs; and of course he was making his debut in a car he did not know well and a mistake would have been frowned upon. Plus, of course, there is the bitterness for Kvyat of having been passed over - and the memory of his difficult history with Red Bull.
As for Albon, he is a refreshingly - almost disarmingly - honest, self-effacing character, and he admitted he was in two minds about his race in Belgium. "It felt good,” he said.
"Obviously the mindset into the race weekend was a bit different. In a weird way it almost felt like we had to do a good job in the race because the build up was always for the race. But it went well; I think the first stint was really difficult, actually, with the medium tyres I really struggled. And I was kind of a bit worried because I wasn't making any ground to anyone in front. But once we put on the soft tyres that was really straightforward and of course we had a good car under us during the weekend.”
Image source, Getty ImagesDry spots can be spotted on the track, and the times are getting quicker, though all drivers are on intermediate tyres.
Alex Albon is quickest, followed by:
2. Leclerc
3. Hamilton
4. Sainz
5. Kvyat
6. Norris
7. Gasly
8. Bottas
9. Vettel
10. Verstappen
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Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, sporting a special helmet with Monza on the top, waves to fans in the paddock
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Only a brief yellow flag. The Italian spun on the exit of Turn One sitting in the middle of the track, but he regained control of the car and continued.
Green flag.
Image source, Getty ImagesSebastian Vettel also has a new lid for the weekend and he's gone for a vintage 1970s look.
Helmet designers Jens Munser Designs say: "From a time when drivers themselves created their helmet design using colored adhesive tape. The retro look is completed with (painted) chipping on the front, oil smudges and dead bugs."
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Seb locks up at Turn One and goes into the run-off area. Meanwhile, both Mercedes drivers are yet to go out, and Lewis Hamilton is getting into the car.
Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen didn't set a lap time before they crashed.
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Monza
Lewis Hamilton came oh-so-close to another win in Belgium last weekend, just running out of time to chase down Charles Leclerc.
And he expects another relatively difficult weekend for Mercedes. “It’s going to be very hard,” the five-time world champion said.
“The Ferraris were incredibly quick last weekend and undoubtedly they will be this weekend. The weather is going to be up and down. I hope we have a close race like the last one. I won’t know until I get out there and we start seeing some of the times.”
Image source, Getty ImagesCharles Leclerc has a little blunder at Turn One, but no dramas. Drivers have reported the track is drying out, but it's still slippy.
Image source, Getty ImagesA dedication to late French Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert, who died at Spa last weekend, on Hamilton's Mercedes.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe track is drying. Slowly.
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Kieron Husain: When was the last time when Grosjean was on form for any length of time though?
George Parker: It's too early to judge Leclerc. He's only in his second season. His first in a top team albeit not the most competitive Ferrari of recent times. He's still to an extent settling in. Next year with a year at Ferrari under his belt. We shall see how he's getting on then.
Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel are out. They have not set a laptime yet, and there's 25 minutes left on the clock.
Image source, Getty Images"I still have the issue."
Brake issues, perhaps?
Gasly loses the rear on the entry into Turn One and ends up on beached on top of the curb. He sits there for a while as the red flags are waved until the marshals push him back onto the track.
Max Verstappen slowly drives up to his former team-mate, has a look and then goes around the outside of him in the Red Bull.
Euan: the .750s difference between him and Vettel last weekend shows exactly how good he is. Ferrari’s advantage over everyone else is on the straights so gaining nearly a second in the corners alone over a 4 time WC is testament to his brilliance.
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Monza
Ah, Monza. They say history lives at this place, and it’s true in so many ways.
Coming into the circuit from the back way, past the golf club of Milan, you actually drive over the old banked oval, that was used for grands prix back in the 1950s.
You park in a copse, helter-skelter, sheltered by the protected trees in this royal park.
The old scoreboard and office building opposite the pits, visible in photographs from the 1960s, are still there.
There’s a slightly chaotic feel to the place, especially outside the paddock, where four roads criss-cross, and hordes of fans stand waiting to see their heroes, creating a sea of humanity that has to part to let the traffic for the car parks for drivers, officials and media in and out.
And in early September, the intense vibe is always heightened by the weather, either still and warm or - as today - cool and damp.
It’s a mad, magical way to end the European season.
Image source, Getty ImagesIs it even worth talking about the top five?
No. Thought not.