Nico Rosberg made a flying start to the Italian Grand Prix weekend by topping the opening practice session at Monza on Friday morning.
After cutting the gap to Mercedes teammate and title rival Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings down to nine points with victory in Belgium last weekend, Rosberg is bidding to regain the championship lead at Monza.
The German made an impressive start on Friday, posting a fastest lap of 1:22.959 to finish two-tenths of a second clear of Hamilton at the top of the timesheets.
Hamilton had been the leading driver after completing a run on the super-soft tire, only for Rosberg to complete a light fuel run on softs to move ahead.
Armed with an updated power unit for Monza, Ferrari finished third and fourth in the session with Kimi Raikkonen beating teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Sergio Perez finished FP1 fifth for Force India ahead of Romain Grosjean, whose Haas car is also fitted with the power unit upgrades supplied by Ferrari. Teammate Esteban Gutierrez also reached the top 10, finishing ninth.
Valtteri Bottas was seventh-fastest for Williams ahead of Max Verstappen, while Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10 for Red Bull behind Gutierrez.
Alfonso Celis Jr. enjoyed a solid run-out for Force India as his development program continued, finishing 12th, while Kevin Magnussen returned to the wheel of his Renault following a hefty shunt at Spa last weekend.
FP1 also saw the ‘Halo’ enjoy further tests, this time fitted to Jenson Button’s McLaren and the Force India of Perez.
Second practice from Monza is live on NBCSN and the NBC Sports app from 8am ET on Friday.
Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports
Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.
Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.
Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.
The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.
In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.
Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.
Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.
Last Five Seattle Winners
450s 2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto
