What we learned from Friday F1 practice at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix

Both the overall pace order and the long run averages are even more fraught with peril at Monza – in addition to the usual caveats about practice fuel loads and engine modes. This is because the teams were trialling various downforce levels and specific set-up tweaks around the ATA requirements.  

Then there were the experiments with tows, which included Perez towing Verstappen at the start of his disrupted FP2 soft run just after the Mexican had set his personal best…