01/09/2017
NEWS STORY
Mercedes topped both free practice sessions at Monza on the supersoft tyre, with Valtteri Bottas setting fastest time of the day in FP2, while Lewis Hamilton went quickest in FP1. The best time from Bottas in the afternoon was nearly a second and half faster than the equivalent session last year, using the same tyres.
Some rain fell towards the end of FP1 with no effect on track evolution. Currently, the gap between the soft and supersoft tyres is just over half a second.
Mario Isola: "As we expected, there's not been a significant increase in overall speeds at Monza, as the new 2017 regulations accentuate cornering performance rather than top speed, and this circuit is most about the straights. However, the fastest time in FP2 was still nearly a second a half faster than the equivalent session last year, using the same tyre compounds. Initial indications suggest that this could be a one-stop race, with only a small difference between the compounds leading to quite a wide pit stop window."