Formula 1 News: Verstappen tops opening practice at Monza

Gunning for a record 10th straight F1 win, Max Verstappen turned a lap of 1m22.657s to top opening practice for the Italian GP at Monza.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

After putting up the fastest lap early, World Champion Verstappen and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez focussed on race setups.

Carlos Sainz Jr. gave the Tifosi something to cheer about with the 2nd fastest time in his Ferrari, only 0.046s behind the Dutchman.

Perez was third, 0.177s back while Charles Leclerc and George Russell rounded out the top-5.

This is an alternate tire weekend and the teams get two fewer sets of tires to use.

Fernando Alonso looked to be in the mix and so did Lando Norris. In short, the pecking order looks both as tight and as unpredictable as ever.

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:22.657	+0.000s	30
2	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:22.703	+0.046s	27
3	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:22.834	+0.177s	29
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:22.966	+0.309s	21
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:23.189	+0.532s	27
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:23.214	+0.557s	23
7	4	Lando Norris	Mclaren Mercedes	1:23.241	+0.584s	21
8	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:23.269	+0.612s	25
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Alphatauri Honda	1:23.271	+0.614s	22
10	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:23.444	+0.787s	17
11	81	Oscar Piastri	Mclaren Mercedes	1:23.446	+0.789s	23
12	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	1:23.661	+1.004s	20
13	40	Liam Lawson	Alphatauri Honda	1:23.833	+1.176s	28
14	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:23.931	+1.274s	25
15	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	1:23.952	+1.295s	16
16	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	1:24.067	+1.410s	22
17	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:24.090	+1.433s	25
18	34	Felipe Drugovich	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:24.140	+1.483s	23
19	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:24.217	+1.560s	23
20	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	1:24.232	+1.575s	16