Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was fastest in first practice for the Italian Grand Prix ahead of title rival Max Verstappen of Red Bull. Hamilton, running medium tyres, was 0.452 seconds ahead of Verstappen on the soft compound. The usual second practice will be replaced by an h our-long qualifying session to decide the grid for Saturday’s ‘sprint race’ qualifying. It is the second race this season in which an F1 weekend’s format has been tweaked, after July’s British Grand Prix. Saturday’s ‘sprint’ race will set the grid for the main grand prix on Sunday. Raikkonen will miss a second race in succession following his positive coronavirus test before qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix last week.

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