Italy – Free Practice 1: Hamilton the fastest

He is all smiles as he prepares to get into his single-seater: Daniel Ricciardo, future Red Bull driver, approaches the Monza Grand Prix weekend relaxed.

On the side of the drivers present for the Free Practice 1, James Calado, confirmed as the third driver for Force India, will make his first laps behind the wheel of the VJM06, replacing Adrian Sutil. At Marussia, Jules Bianchi will give up his seat to Rodolfo Gonzalez, while Giedo van der Garde will hand over his car to the experienced Heikki Kovalainen.

The track is dry and the sun is shining, the temperature is 31°C on the ground and 26°C in the air.

The session is open: Max Chilton is the first on track, followed by most of the drivers completing their installation laps on hard tires (orange). Fernando Alonso takes advantage of these first laps to greet the tifosi already present in large numbers in the stands. Sebastian Vettel is the last driver to come out.

After 15 minutes, calm prevails. Esteban Gutierrez positions his Sauber at the end of the pit lane to perform a starting simulation. The Mexican crosses the timing line but still does not clock a time, observed by Serguei Sirotkin, who is expected to be Sauber’s future driver next season. Rodolfo Gonzalez is the first to set a time: he records 1:34.918 and then improves to 1:30.795 and 1:30.277. Canal + footage shows an animated discussion in the paddock between Eric Boullier and Steve Robson, Kimi Räikkönen’s agent. Jenson Button, whose future with McLaren remains uncertain, takes the lead with a 1:29.494, a time he then improves to 1:27.715.

After half an hour, Button leads Sergio Pérez. They are followed by Chilton and Gonzalez. Romain Grosjean joins his fellow drivers on the track. Pérez takes the lead with 1:26.007. The track gets busy and times improve quickly: Vettel takes second place, 49 thousandths behind the McLaren, before setting the fastest provisional time at 1:25.914, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen by less than a tenth.

After 45 minutes, Vettel leads Räikkönen, Pérez, Alonso, and Webber. The Ferrari driver subsequently takes the first position with a time of 1:25.863. In the pits, McLaren is struggling with Jenson Button’s DRS. Button is also under investigation by the stewards for using this wing in an unauthorized zone. Lewis Hamilton, during a warm-up lap, goes straight through the second chicane and calmly returns to the track. He goes for a timed lap and places P1 with a 1:25.565, three-tenths ahead of Alonso. The Spaniard, on course to improve the best time, makes a small driving error on the exit of the Parabolica and has to settle for closing in, falling 0.035 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton.

After an hour, Hamilton leads ahead of Alonso, Vettel, Rosberg, and Räikkönen. Many drivers are running straight through the first chicane, including Calado, Hülkenberg, Maldonado, and Grosjean. Maldonado and Bottas are also testing the gravel traps at the Ascari variant. Hülkenberg, on the other hand, suffers from a gearbox problem and must return to the pits. The end of the session is very uneventful for now, with drivers currently setting times far from their best laps. No one has yet fitted medium (white) tires.

15 minutes to the end, Hamilton, Alonso, Rosberg, Vettel, and Räikkönen make up the top 5. Apart from Rosberg, who has just improved to pass Vettel, all these men are on track, with fuel. Nico Hülkenberg, sent back on track by Sauber, has to ultimately stop his run before even leaving the pits. His mechanics rush to retrieve the car and bring it back to the garage. Hamilton experiences some thrills at the exit of Lesmo 2 with a slight drift. James Calado, on the other hand, suffers a significant understeer but manages not to run off into the gravel at the same spot. Räikkönen and Rosberg, for their part, both miss the braking point at the first chicane, at the end of the straight.

The end of the session is marked by long stints on hard tires, resulting in few improvements. A comical scene at the end of the straight: Alonso, stopped to try a starting procedure, almost gets hit by Massa, who slammed on the brakes to stop his car just as the light turned red. The Brazilian steps out of his car, and his mechanics come to retrieve it.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) sets the fastest time of the morning, ahead of Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes).

Results of Free Practice 1 of the 2013 Italian Grand Prix: