Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices
All the latest from today’s Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices with reaction from drivers and teams.
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo
Fist Practice Session – 1:25.120 – Position 10 – Laps: 17
Second Practice Session – 1:24.003 – Position 6 – Laps 33
“After today’s action, I think we are more or less where we expected to be. I would like to be closer to Ferrari but we didn’t really find the times on the supersofts, even though the softs felt competitive.”
“I think tomorrow it will get closer at the top even more and I expect Mercedes to lock out the front row with Ferrari the next best.”
“Fifth and sixth for now is not too bad and it gives us plenty to work on for tomorrow. Monza is a very high speed circuit so if you have the right race car you have the opportunity to overtake.”
“Even if you’re a little bit down on top speed you can get a good slipstream and use DRS to make a pass. Looking at the strategy here in the past, it has typically been a one stop race so that limits the options and even in today’s heat, the tyres lasts well so I can’t see that changing for now.”
“Max did a fairly long stint on the supersofts and the result looked good.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Red Bull
Max Verstappen
First Practice Session – 1:24.982 – Position 8 – Lap: 25
Second Practice Session – 1:23.732 – Position 5 – Laps: 25
“It was a good day on track today. We knew that it would be a more difficult weekend for the team as this is definitely the most challenging track for us on the calendar but I think it wasn’t too bad today and we can definitely improve for tomorrow.”
“We have found a good balance in between the sectors so it’s now up to us and the car – for the moment we are a little bit too far behind Mercedes but if we get everything sorted for tomorrow, we can get closer.”
“They definitely look very strong. Difficult to say what tomorrow will bring but it will be tougher than Spa, that’s for sure. I think we can all clearly see that but we will do our best.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton
First Practice Session – 1:23.162 – Position 2
Second Practice Session – 1:22.801 – Position 1
“It’s been a really good day. Monza is always an amazing track to drive and the fans always come out to show their support.”
“We made good progress through our programme across the two sessions and our long run pace felt good. We split the tyre compounds between Nico and myself so we could learn as much as possible going into qualifying and the race this weekend.”
“We’re looking quite strong, we’ve still got some work to do this evening, to analyse all the date and prepare the car but I’m confident that we can take the fight back to the rest of the grid.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Mercedes
Nico Rosberg
First Practice Session – 1:22.959 – Position 1
Second Practice Session – 1:22.994 – Position 2
“The car felt pretty good during P1 but we need to work on the balance of the car overnight as one lap pace didn’t feel 100% during P2.”
‘We need to analyse the data from running all three tyres across the two sessions. Still, it’s great being back here in Monza, the tifosi always come in force to show their support and it’s great news that we’ll be coming back here for at least the next 3 years.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Sauber F1
Marcus Ericsson
First Practice Session – 1:25.853 – Laps 20
Second Practice Session – 1:24.981 – Laps 25
“It was a good Friday, we tried different compounds – medium, soft and supersoft. We got some data on low as well as high-fuel runs.”
“We continued to work on our aero package that we introduced in Spa and all in all, it was a very positive and productive day. We gathered interesting information and will continue through to tomorrow.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Sauber F1
Felipe Nasr
First Practice Session – 1:26.439 – Laps 21
Second Practice Session – 1:25.643 – Laps 31
“It was again another useful Friday. In the morning we focused on further analysis on the aero package and in FP1 we dedicated a lot of work and time on the aerodynamic side of the car.”
“Later on in the afternoon, we were able to do short and long runs on different tyre compounds. It is positive that we were also able to do a race simulation.”
“I feel like we still have some work to do for the rest of the weekend but overall, it was a good Friday and I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Sahara Force India
The Sahara Force India team completed busy practice session in Monza with Sergio Perez and Alfonso Celis in FP1 with Nico Hulkenberg taking part in FP2 in preparation for the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Combined, the drivers brought home 144 laps for the team who will now look over the data ahead of the race this weekend.
Nico Hulkenberg
First Practice Session – Did Not Take Part
Second Practice Session – 1:24.587 – Position 12 – Laps 40
“It’s been a relatively short Friday for me as I was in the car for FP 2 only but the afternoon went to plan and it was very interesting to see our pace during the long runs.”
“We managed some good runs and the team should have plenty of data to work with tonight, at this stage I’m not entirely happy as I would like to be with the car.”
“I am still struggling a bit with the balance so we need to improve things, we need to find some more harmony in the car to get us in better shape for tomorrow.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Sahara Force India
Sergio Perez
First Practice Session – 1:24.650 – Position 5 – Laps 32
Second Practice Session – 1:24.653 – Position 13 – Laps 42
“I don’t think today went as well as we thought it would. The balance of the car is still not where I want it to be so we need to understand why that is the case.”
“There are still a couple of tenths we can find and that should be a good starting point. The times show the battle in the midfield is even closer than usual so we need to keep pushing to come out on top.”
“In the morning session, I had a chance to try the Halo for the first time, it was just an installation lap but I didn’t feel like it gave me any problems with visibility.”
“Getting out of the car is a bit more of a struggle but it will be interesting to see how this technology develops over time.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Sahara Force India
Alfonso Celis
First Practice Session – 1:25.367 – Position 12 – Laps 30
Second Practice Session – Did Not Take Part
“I am really happy about how the day went, it was an honour to be able to drive in Monza – it’s a place with such an incredible history and the most important thing for me is to keep showing the team that I am progressing and not making any mistakes.”
“As always, the priority is to bring the car home in one pice but every time I get the car back, my confidence increases and I can push a little bit more.”
“Monza is not an easy track to drive and even though the car is very good you feel different, especially when you are not in the car every other weekend.”
“You have very high speeds, especially on a light downforce set-up and trying not to lock the brakes at the end of the straights is a challenge.”
“Every time you go out, it’s a compromise between pushing hard and looking after the car, I am happy with my performance and I am pleased that the team is also satisfied by it.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen
First Practice Session – 1:24.047 – Position 3
Second Practice Session – 1:23.427 – Position 4
“The morning ran smoothly and the first practice session was pretty good. The second one was a bit messy with the new tyres and they yellow flags but overall it was not too bad and the car was feeling OK.”
“Obviously there are things to improve on tomorrow but we started the weekend pretty OK. The new engine is a small step and it’s a normal part of the progress. We would not put in the car anything that wouldn’t improve our performances.”
“We try to improve in all the areas and I think we are going in the right direction!”
“The atmosphere here in Monza is always very nice, there are a lot of fans and the feeling is good, we have to do well on this circuit.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel
First Practice Session – 1:24.307 – Position 4
Second Practice Session – 1:23.254 – Position 3
“It’s Friday after all which means it’s not the most important part of the weekend – yet. Even if it’s important that we ran and that we had a decent speed.”
“In general, the car feels good but we still need to improve from where we are and we need to make it feel good in every corner, bring it all together and the first impression so far is positive.”
“We have a new engine now so I think it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.”
“Obviously on Friday, you try a lot of different things so we need to wait until tomorrow and Sunday to really see where we are.”
“Now we need to improve the car and focus on ourselves, it’s also really good news that Monza will stay with F1 for another three years – we need this track in the calendar, it’s fantastic!”
“Monza means history, tradition and racing!.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – Williams
Valtteri Bottas
First Practice Session – 1:24.785 – Position 7
Second Practice Session – 1:24.299 – Position 8
“Today went well, it’s always nice to drive here in Monza and we got everything that was planned done so we have plenty of information on the downforce levels and how the tyres are performing in short and in the long runs too.”
“For sure, we still have a lot of work to do for tomorrow but overall, it was a good day and I think it’s going to be close here.”
“Looking at today and the long run pace we had, we can definitely have a good week. It is too early to speculate much more than that but I think we have the opportunity to be in reasonable positions this weekend.”
Italian Grand Prix Practices – Williams
Felipe Massa
First Practice Session – 1:25.840 – Position 14
Second Practice Session – 1:24.556 – Position 11
“It wasn’t a fantastic Friday, for me personally we had a couple of issues in FP1 and FP2 that limited my track time and what I could learn about the car.”
“I’m in a very relaxed place after announcing my retirement plans yesterday so my focus now is on having a competitive final eight races.”
“I’ll be working hard overnight with the team to keep improving the car so that we can have another good result for Williams at what is a very special track for me.”
Italian Grand Prix Practices – McLaren
Fernando Alonso
First Practice Session – 1:25.507 – Position 13
Second Practice Session – 1:24.259 – Position 7
“We didn’t have the perfect reliability today – there are still some concerns here and there but it wasn’t anything really significant which is good news. Nonetheless, we need to take care of every last detail because we don’t want to lose out on scoring some points when it matters the most.”
“It’s been a positive day and we need to go away and look at the data and what we’ve tested today – we ran some interesting prototypes too, parts that are being evaluated for the future but overall we are reasonably happy.”
“We didn’t expect to get both the cars into the top 10 at a high-speed track like this but we need to keep our feet on the ground as we know that we tend to slip back on Saturday afternoons – we wouldn’t realistically expect to get into Q3 tomorrow, so if we do – it will be a nice surprise.”
Italian Grand Prix Friday Practices – McLaren
Jenson Button
First Practice Session – 1:25.351 – Position 11
Second Practice – 1:24.549 – Position 10
“The halo trial this morning was…. okay – there were no major issues with it. Perhaps it could be a little bit more difficult to see the lights on the start-line and in the pit-stops but there are still so many other possibilities to move things around.”
“It feels a little strange and at 200mph, instead of focusing on the next corner, you’re focusing on something dead ahead of your eyes – which can make you a little cross-eyed. “
“It could be possible to get into Q3 tomorrow – we didn’t do anything different today to what we normally do on a Friday so yeah, it’s definitely possible.”
“The car is working reasonably well – I’m pretty happy.”
“Long run pace still needs some work, especially if we’re to fight for some points but, we can get on top of it and we should be looking all right.”
More to come soon over the weekend ahead of the Italian Grand Prix!
The Formula 1 Girl
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