How Italian GP practice unfolded

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc edged Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes to set fastest time in a weather-affected second practice at the Italian Grand Prix.

Leclerc, fresh from his maiden win in Belgium, was 0.068 seconds quicker than Hamilton. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was third, 0.201secs off the pace.

The second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas was third, from the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon.

Intermittent rain made competitiveness harder to read than usual.

The changeable weather meant that the teams ran their sessions to different timetables, Ferrari and Red Bull cramming in their qualifying simulation laps early in the session before the first rain shower, Mercedes preferring to wait until it had passed.

That also meant an off-set in the later race-simulation preparation, on which Mercedes appeared to have an advantage but on which Ferrari may have been affected by a damper track for the start of their runs.

Nevertheless, the performance pattern of the cars appeared as expected - with Ferrari having an advantage on a single lap but Mercedes faster over a longer run.

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Max Verstappen who starts towards the back of the grid on Sunday due to an upgraded Honda engine, says there are some good overtaking opportunities here at Monza. He says: "Especially with the pace we showed today [the car] seems to be going really well and with the engine it all seems possible. It's going to be a little bit annoying not getting into qualifying like I want to but that's the way it is."

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Sulaimon Adelekan: Safe to say Charles Leclerc is finally coming of age, though he still has long way ahead of him.

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Last Saturday, Daniel Ricciardo went through what might best be described as a long, dark night of the soul.

Following the death of Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert at the Belgian Grand Prix, the Renault driver went back to his hotel and questioned whether it was all worth it. The answer did not come easily, but in the end the Australian raced at Spa on Sunday.

Four days on, he sits down with BBC Sport at the start of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, and delves deep into what it takes for a racing driver to confront his fears and race on in such difficult circumstances.

"I certainly questioned it," the 30-year-old Australian, who won seven grands prix for Red Bull before moving to Renault for this season, says. "The reality is, weirdly, I do love it too much. Racing did feel right in the end. Even though I didn't really want to, once I did it, it was like, OK, this actually feels right and normal."

For a long time over last weekend, though, it felt anything but normal.

"When you're a kid and you see it on TV, and you're not present or not part of it," Ricciardo says, "it still seems like there is some form of distance, or a disconnection to what's happened.

"But when you're there and it happens to one of your colleagues, or it's in the same race, it seems more real, and it's like: 'OK, this actually can happen to anyone, and it's here, it's present right now.'

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Daniil Kvyat goes off into the run-off area at Turn One. Not the first, won't be the last.

Pierre Gasly, who goes way back with Leclerc to racing together in their youth, says: "I know he’s like, super-talented and a super-fast guy but it’s the case and we know each other since we were eight years old.

"He’s been always on top of all the series he’s competed in. So, we’ve been team-mates. I was always surprised and impressed when we were team-mates how fast he was, and all the battles we had, so no, in a way, I’m not surprised but in a way it’s good that he proved it with his first win and I’m sure there will be many more."

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It was a question that was asked in the press conference yesterday. Sebastian Vettel said of his team-mate: "I think it’s positive that he’s surprised probably a lot of people outside but inside I think we obviously… he’s been with Ferrari, with the Driver Academy for a while, and it was clear to see that he has a lot of potential.

"I think he had a very strong rookie season with Alfa, so, y’know, it’s good to see that he’s right on the pace straight away and obviously form a team point of view I think the most important is that we work together, not against each other."

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No change in the top five... Leclerc still quickest.

We ran an article last year about the Hamilton-effect when it comes to fans and body art.

It seems Michael Schumacher provided a similar inspiration for this Ferrari fan, pictured at Monza.

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"Lando, I need some feedback on the condition of the track, please."

Norris: "It's dry everywhere apart from the back straight and the last corner."

"Is everything normal on the straights?"

Engineer: "On the data everything is fine?"

Daniel Ricciardo says on Monza: “The fans are always special in Monza and the passion there is amazing. There’s lots of red flares and chaos everywhere, but it’s quite cool to see everyone going wild.

“I always look forward to the drivers’ parade in Monza because it’s electric and gets you pumped to go racing. I was glad to move on from Belgium. Our race was pretty much over from the turn one incident as it was difficult to recover with the damage we sustained.

“We showed strong pace in qualifying and should have scored some much-needed points. Just to race on Sunday was challenging, but I’m glad we did. Monza means we have an immediate opportunity to bounce back and hopefully score well.”

Norris is out and slots in 18th.

1. Leclerc
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel
4. Bottas
5. Verstappen
6. Albon
7. Gasly
8. Grosjean
9. Ricciardo
10. Kvyat

When motorsport and shopping trolleys collide...

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"Charles we believe Sunday could be these kind of conditions so there is value on keep running."