Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix promises to be a close fight in which Red Bull may not even feature after what was seen in Friday’s session where Lewis Hamilton set the best time.
In the first session, while Max Verstappen achieved the best time with his Red Bull with a lap of 1m21.676s followed by two tenths by Charles Leclerc and leaving Lando Norris in third, the news focused on two debuts: that of the Argentine Franco Colapinto and that of the Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Colapinto, who joins Williams as a replacement for Logar Sargeant, finished his first practice in 17th position ahead of Esteban Ocon and just behind Lance Stroll.
For Antonelli, luck was different when George Russell’s Mercedes crashed with just 10 minutes left in practice. The Italian had been setting top times but lost control and crashed on his debut in FP1 in Formula 1.
Carlos Sainz was fourth with Valtteri Bottas rounding out the top five, while Sergio Perez finished ninth ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Aston.
The second free practice was a battle between McLaren, Ferrari and the only Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
When the session started, it was the McLarens that took the lead, followed by the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz taking the first two positions with the medium compound.
Hamilton took the top spot with a time of 1m20.738s, beating Norris by three thousandths of a second. Carlos Sainz jumped to third position with a tenth of a second ahead of Piastri.
The session was interrupted with 30 minutes left when Kevin Magnussen’s Haas crashed at Lesmo 2 after losing the rear end of his car.
When the session restarted no one could undercut Hamilton’s lap with George Russell leaping from the back to sixth despite his short track time. Nico Hulkenberg became a top-10 contender in seventh ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. The Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were ninth and tenth.
The Williams of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto followed the Red Bulls. The Thai placed 13th, followed by Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Colapinto, a Formula 1 debutant, finished 17th, beaten by Tsunoda.
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Schedule and TV for Saturday of the 2024 Formula 1 Italian GP in Latin America:
Country
Television
Saturday
Mexico
FOX Sports México /
FOX Sports Premium
FP3: 04:30
Q: 08:00
Costa Rica
Belize
Disney+ PREMIUM
FP3: 04:30
Q: 08:00
Panama
Colombia
Peru
Ecuador
Disney+ PREMIUM / ESPN5
FP3: 05:30
Q: 09:00
Chile
Disney+ PREMIUM
FP3: 06:30
Q: 10:00
Venezuela
Bolivia
Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic
Paraguay
Disney+ PREMIUM / ESPN5
FP3: 06:30
Q: 10:00
Argentina
Disney+ PREMIUM
FP3: 07:30
Q: 11:00
Uruguay
Disney+ PREMIUM
FP3: 07:30
Q: 11:00
