Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton races during the first practice session ahead of the Italian GP.© AFP
Lewis Hamilton gave Ferrari fans hope of a big weekend at the Italian Grand Prix after topping the times in Friday’s first practice session at Monza ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc. Formula One icon Hamilton clocked a fastest lap of one minute and 20.117 seconds at the Temple of Speed, 0.169sec faster than Leclerc who won last year’s race for the Scuderia. Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, has had a disappointing first season at Ferrari, not only not winning a GP but not even claiming a single podium finish.
The 40-year-old trails championship leader Oscar Piastri by 200 points and has a five-place grid penalty for this weekend after failing to slow down in a yellow flag zone on his way to the grid at the Dutch GP.
He was fastest in a session which was interrupted for around 10 minutes after French rookie Isack Hadjar, who claimed his first F1 podium last weekend at the Dutch GP, slid into the gravel and sprayed it onto the track.
McLaren’s Piastri did not participate in the first practice, with Irish youngster Alex Dunne taking his place and finishing nearly 1.5sec behind Hamilton.
Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris, who at 34 points back in the drivers’ standings is Piastri’s closest title challenger, was 0.904sec off the pace in sixth.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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