Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton fastest in Monza practice for Italian Grand Prix

Rosberg posted a lap of 1m22.959s around Monza on Pirelli’s soft compound tyre, finishing 0.203 seconds ahead of reigning champion and current points leader Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton was two tenths faster than Rosberg during the mid-session qualifying simulations, with the Ferrari pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen finishing third and fourth and giving the home “tifosi” crowd some optimism for the rest of the weekend.

“I’m chill”, Hamilton said after reversing positions with Rosberg and leading Friday’s second practice session for the Italian GP.

Hamilton, who arrived in the Monza paddock on Thursday for the Italian Grand Prix, is just one victory away from moving to 50 wins.

Lewis Hamilton clocked 1 minute 22.801 seconds on supersoft tyres to produce the fastest lap time during practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

Mercedes team-mate and title challenger Nico Rosberg may have won at Spa to cut the gap to Hamilton to nine points.

Last year, Hamilton led each practice in Monza, took pole position, and led the race from start to finish.

Max Verstappen, Jenson Button, and Sergio Perez tested out a protective halo device created to reduce the risk of head injuries, following the deaths of F1 driver Jules Bianchi and British IndyCar driver Justin Wilson past year. Both Ferrari drivers and both Mercedes men topped the times at different periods of the session before Hamilton took control in a straightforward session lacking in major incident. Button was the only one to keep it on for a second lap.

Bottas and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen split the Haas pair, the latter two seconds down, with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo rounding off the top 10, 0.138s behind his teenage team-mate, with all three running soft compound rubber.

“While we have reached an agreement (they) are getting all the small details that are important in a contract together and we will sign this back in England, ” Ecclestone, 85, said.

Rival engine suppliers Honda, Mercedes and Renault all have tokens to spare for the final seven races with two-time champion Fernando Alonso forecasting that his McLaren Honda team will gain performance in the final fly-away’ part of the season. Felipe Massa finished 11th after a brake-by-wire problem ate into his track time and limited him to 20 laps.

But the 36-year-old refused to be pressed on whether he would extend his grand prix career into an 18th campaign at the team with whom he started his career in 2000.