Friday practice for the Italian Grand Prix has wrapped up at Monza, with Max Verstappen topping FP1 and Carlos Sainz taking P1 in FP2, with the teams once again tackling the Alternative Tyre Allocation system this weekend.

The Hungarian Grand Prix saw the tweaked qualifying format used for the first time earlier this season, and Monza is the second and last time it will be used in 2023, in a bid to shake up qualifying.

Indeed, the rules state that the hard tyre must be used in Q1, the mediums in Q2, and the softs in Q3, with two fewer sets of tyres also available to each driver.

In FP1, Max Verstappen, as he has been for much of this year, was fastest, with him setting a time of 1:22.657 ahead of Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari - who was just four hundredths slower - and Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull.

It was also a session of note for Brazilian driver Felipe Drugovich, with the Aston Martin driver getting his first taste of the AMR23 since competing in pre-season testing at the start of the campaign, which saw him stand in for Lance Stroll.

Drugovich, the 2022 F2 champion - a crown he sealed here last year at Monza in what was a hugely dominant campaign - finished 18th fastest as he took over from Stroll once more for the hour, and he clocked up 24 laps.

As for FP2, Carlos Sainz was the quickest of all in the Ferrari - something the gathered Tifosi marked with applause around the circuit.

Of course, far from winning the Italian Grand Prix itself on Sunday, it was still a positive run for the Spaniard and he'll be pleased with the work gone through today in the SF-23.

Second quickest was his former McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, whilst Sergio Perez would again finish third-fastest, though the Mexican had a late off at the Parabolica, which caused a red flag.

That wasn't the only red flag of the session, meanwhile, as Stroll suffered a day of really curtailed running, as his Aston ground to a halt thanks to a fuel system issue - he'll be eager to get onto Saturday and get some laps in during FP3 before qualifying.

And what of qualifying? Pirelli say that they expect pole to be around a 1:19.9 this weekend - something no-one really got near today as they went about their different run plans - and it'll only be those drivers that navigate the hards in Q1 and the mediums in Q2 that will set themselves up for a shot at P1 on the softs in Q3.

Ultimately, Max Verstappen will remain the favourite for pole given the advantage that he still has. Ferrari, though, will be among the most determined to try and derail his challenge to make it ten GP wins in a row.

Italian Grand Prix - FP1 classification

1 Max Verstappen

2 Carlos Sainz

3 Sergio Perez

4 Charles Leclerc

5 George Russell

6 Fernando Alonso

7 Lando Norris

8 Lewis Hamilton

9 Yuki Tsunoda

10 Alex Albon

11 Oscar Piastri

12 Logan Sargeant

13 Liam Lawson

14 Pierre Gasly

15 Valtteri Bottas

16 Nico Hulkenberg

17 Esteban Ocon

18 Felipe Drugovich

19 Kevin Magnussen

20 Zhou Guanyu

Italian Grand Prix - FP2 classification

1 Carlos Sainz

2 Lando Norris

3 Sergio Perez

4 Oscar Piastri

5 Max Verstappen

6 Charles Leclerc

7 Alex Albon

8 Fernando Alonso

9 George Russell

10 Nico Hulkenberg

11 Kevin Magnussen

12 Valtteri Bottas

13 Pierre Gasly

14 Yuki Tsunoda

15 Esteban Ocon

16 Logan Sargeant

17 Lewis Hamilton

18 Liam Lawson

19 Zhou Guanyu

20 Lance Stroll