Perez tops rain-hit opening Monza practice

A wet pitlane

Getting a lap in right at the end as the track was drying, the Strike Force India driver Sergio Perez was fastest in meaningless opening practice for the Italian GP at Monza.

Kimi Raikkonen was 2nd for Ferrari 0.550s behind, but with the weather clearing it's all for nothing.

Esteban Ocon, Brendon Hartley and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top-5.

With a 10-place grid penalty already hanging around his neck for the Italian Grand Prix, Renault have made the call to kit out Nico Hulkenberg with a new power unit in Monza this weekend.

Hulkenberg was handed the penalty after his part in the enormous Turn 1 crash at Spa last weekend, caused by the German locking his brakes going into the La Source hairpin and cannoning into the McLaren of Fernando Alonso, who in turn wiped out the Sauber of Charles Leclerc.

Arriving in Italy, Renault made the tactical decision to give Hulkenberg an entirely new set of power unit elements – including a Spec B, rather than the newer Spec C engine – meaning that he’ll start the Grand Prix from the back of the grid.

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