The Russian set the fastest time of the first free practice session at Monza.
The session started as a few drops of rain fell on track but not enough to properly wet it. However, many drivers struggled with tyres temperature before the sun came out.
Artem Markelov (Russian Time) set the fastest time of the session in 1:31.128 ahead of his teammate Luca Ghiotto (Russian Time). The times did not evolve much until Sean Gelael (Arden) his car on track and put a premature end to the session.
Behind both Russian Time stood Charles Leclerc (Prema) and Nobuharu Matsushita (ART GP), the latter being at the front in the early stages. Nyck De Vries, Oliver Rowland, Alex Albon, Jordan King, Louis Delétraz and Antonio Fuoco completed the top 10 before quali.