Jolyon Palmer enjoyed more strong running as he finished 15^th fastest in today's (4 September) Free Practice One session at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix. The Lotus F1 Team Third and Reserve Driver collected valuable data for the Enstone-based outfit, completing 28 laps in his eighth FP1 outing of the year.

Jolyon was the first driver to take to the 3.6-mile circuit as the 90-minute session began, carrying a tribute to the late Justin Wilson on his helmet, who tragically lost his life following an IndyCar accident on 23 August. He completed two initial installation laps, with a flying pit-stop sandwiched in between, fitted with a data-collecting device on his front left tyre. He resumed running shortly after, but his first run was interrupted after just four laps when Carlos Sainz Jr lost his Toro Rosso under braking and went off into the gravel at Parabolica, bringing out the red flags.

After the session resumed, Jolyon headed out on the Pirelli medium tyres with 45 minutes remaining and improved his personal best to a 1m27.669s, elevating him into the top-10 at that stage. He completed a five-lap run before pitting with just over half-an-hour left in FP1. The 24-year-old carried on his data collection and evaluation duties for the team as a new nosecone was fitted to the E23 Hybrid, with Jolyon completing a number of further circuits before pitting once again.

With 15 minutes remaining, the 2014 GP2 Champion returned to the Monza circuit on another set of medium tyres for a lengthy stint but did not improve his fastest time. He returned to the pit lane as the session headed towards its conclusion and completed a practice pit stop to finish Free Practice.

Jolyon said: "It was a tough session as I only got a couple of laps on the first set of tyres as we carried out aero mapping work before being interrupted by the red flag. That meant I had a lot to do once the session resumed and we did manage to get a good number of laps in. The purpose once again was to work on the new front-wing which we brought to Spa and trying to make more progress with it. It was a useful session but there is more work to be done."

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director for Lotus F1 Team, added: "Jolyon conducted a number of valuable tests this morning at Monza which will assist with our set-up for this weekend. Monza with its long straights is a distinct circuit layout and we had a decent programme for him to run through including front wing evaluations. As always, he did a great job which will assist us for the rest of this event." 

The Mercedes pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg headed the field in the session, the Brit posting a fastest time of 1m24.670s, 0.463s clear of his German team-mate. Sebastian Vettel was third quickest for Ferrari with the Force India pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez fourth and fifth fastest respectively.

Italian Grand Prix - Free Practice One - Result

1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m24.670s
2 Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, +0.463s
3 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, +1.588s
4 Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, +1.942s
5 Sergio Perez, Force India, +2.060s
6 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, +2.113s
7 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, +2.252s
8 Felipe Massa, Williams, +2.266s
9 Valtteri Bottas, Williams, +2.405s
10 Pastor Maldonado, Lotus F1 Team, +2.448s
11 Felipe Nasr, Sauber, +2.562s
12 Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, +2.605s
13 Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, +2.784s
14 Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, +2.921s
15 Jolyon Palmer, Lotus F1 Team, +2.999s
16 Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, +3.237s
17 Fernando Alonso, McLaren, +3.353s
18 Jenson Button, McLaren, +3.753s
19 Will Stevens, Manor, +5.183s
20 Roberto Merhi, Manor, +5.241s