Sawt Falasteen - Verstappen quickest in opening F1 Italian GP practice

Championship leader Verstappen clocked one minute, 21.676 seconds, 0.228sec ahead of Leclerc who is the main hope for the massed ranks of Ferrari fans at Monza.

McLaren driver Lando Norris, Verstappen's closest rival for the world title, was 0.241sec off the pace in third.

Norris trails by 70 points in the drivers' championship after a stunning win at last weekend's Dutch GP, the fifth straight race not to be won by Red Bull's Verstappen.

Rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli's first ever F1 drive ended quickly and in spectacular fashion as he span off the track with just four completed laps under his belt.

The 18-year-old was given a chance by Mercedes to drive George Russell's car but lost control at the Parabolica turn 10 minutes into the session and smashed into the trackside barriers, seriously damaging the front end.

Antonelli apologised as he climbed out apparently unhurt, and Mercedes called the incident "unfortunate but all part of the learning curve".

The Italian, who competes in the Formula Two championship for Prema Racing, is reported to be one of the drivers in contention to be Russell's teammate when seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton switches to Ferrari at the end of year.

He was not the only driver to have problems at the Parabolica as Carlos Sainz nearly slid off and Franco Colapinto, another rookie who has replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams, hit the gravel at the same corner but managed to get his car back on the track.

R.Shaban--SF-PST