Max Verstappen picked up from where he left off last week in Zandvoort to set the early pace in Monza. The Red Bull driver topped the timesheets at the opening practice hour in Italy ahead of rival Carlos Sainz and team mate Sergio Perez.

The last time the drivers were out on track they were sliding their way through the heavy rain and wet track at Zandvoort. However, as they made their way out of the pit lane at Monza, they were greeted by sunny skies and warm temperatures.

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There were a mix of tyres at the start as the drivers began to adapt to Pirelli’s Alternative Tyre Allocation (ATA). While the majority opted to run the hard and soft tyres, Haas and Aston Martin ran the mediums on both their cars.

But as the times began to tumble even further it was Verstappen who set the pace on the hards, going around the Monza circuit in 1m 22.657s. Carlos Sainz showed a good turn of pace for Ferrari, going 0.046s off the pace of the Dutch driver.

About 20 minutes in the session a few drivers – such as Lando Norris, Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant – made their way out on to the track for the first time, showing their way of adapting to the ATA. And while Zhou and Bottas made it out of the pit lane, they both complained of various issues with the C43, forcing the team to box the pair.