Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 1 Analysis, Force India strong as FP1 comes to an end.

Free Practice 1 for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix has ended with another Mercedes 1, 2 with Lewis Hamilton leading home team mate Nico Rosberg. The main point gained from FP1 is that Mercedes are completely on another level compared to Sebastian Vettel who finished 1.5 seconds off the pace in third.

The most positive session came from Force India. Nico Hulkenberg led Sergio Perez in 4th and 5th in what seems to be a true representation of pace. An interesting battle to see on Saturday will be where Williams slot in, can they leap frog Force India or will they be stuck behind them? Force India had a relatviely trouble free session with only a slight wobble when Nico Hulkenberg reported that there was a small amount of fluid in the cockpit that smelt of fuel.

Force India had a strong session finishing P4 and P5.

Kimi Raikkonen had a mediocre session in the Ferrari only managing sixth place, 5 tenths behind Vettel in 3rd place.

One of the bigger moments in FP1 was a spin that ended the session for Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso. As the Spainard jumped on the brakes going into Parabolica the rear slipped from and he slid straight into the gravel and was beached. The worst part was due to him being stuck on the outside of the track, the car couldn't be returned to the pits, therefore ending his session prematurely.
Sauber and Red Bull were both quiet during the session with the Swiss outfit finishing in 11th and 13th, whilst the Milton-Keynes unit were 7th and 12th.

Monza is the home race of Scuderia Ferrari

Williams were off the pace as they ran larger fuel loads again in practice, but by there standards had a very good sessions. The previous races they find themselves out the top 10 whereas today Massa led Bottas in 8th and 9th.

It was an odd an quiet session for Lotus as they only managed 10th and 15th. They were without there superman Romain Grosjean as Jolyon Palmer took part in his 8th FP1 session of the season.

McLaren once again found themsleves struggling finsihing in 17th and 18th with Alonso leading Jenson Button. Will Stevens also got the better of his team mate at Manor-Marussia.

Lewis Hamilton takes photos with fans before FP1

So what is going to happen in FP2? I think the team to watch is again Force India. After the strong showing in Practice 1 they'll want to back it up. But can Lotus get back on the pace and challenge the Silverstone based outfit? Will Williams challenge them or run there own agenda? and can Ferrari realistically close the gap to the Mercedes at the top?

Practice 2 commences in just under a few hours.

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