Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari's new engine is "an improvement" but that his team are still lagging behind Mercedes on the straights at the Italian Grand Prix. Mercedes' George Russell topped Friday practice by 0.120 seconds from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Hamilton was fifth, 0.457secs off the pace, and also behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and McLaren's Lando Norris.

Hamilton described the straight-line speed deficit to Mercedes as "considerable." "Just looking at the deltas there, I was losing something like 0.6secs to George on the straights, which is something we need to look into," he said. It is unlikely that Ferrari were using the full performance of their new engine on its first day of running.

Antonelli, who leads Hamilton and Russell by 59 points in the world championship, will start from the back due to a grid penalty. He said: "Ferrari definitely took a step forward with the new engine and now the speeds are the same." Hamilton also complained about the car's balance, noting it was "really difficult to pull a lap out of the car."

Norris admitted McLaren are struggling for pace, while Max Verstappen was 0.818secs off the pace in ninth. The race runs were inconclusive as teams used different tyre compounds.