Verstappen kicks off record bid for 10th straight win as Perez crashes during second practice at Monza

Formula One world championship leader Max Verstappen lapped fastest on Friday in first free practice for an that could secure the Red Bull driver a record 10th win in a row.

The Dutch 25-year-old set a best time of one minute 22.657 seconds on a warm but cloudy afternoon at Monza with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz keeping the home crowd happy with a lap only 0.046 seconds slower.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez, second in the championship but now 138 points adrift after 13 of 22 races, was third fastest and 0.177 slower than his team mate with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth.

Perez chad rashed his Red Bull at the famous Parabolica corner iduring free practice.

Perez's emerged unhurt considering the high speed at which he lost control.

Perez was actually faster than Verstappen on the race-simulation runs in the last part of the session by about 0.1secs on average over the few laps they managed before the crash.

Perez admitted it was overall a good day and said: "I understeered off on the exit and tried to keep it nailed. I thought I had it under control, but then I touched a little bit the gravel and that was game over.

"It doesn't look too bad, the damage. The hit was fairly small. I don't think we lost anything at the end.

Verstappen won at Monza last year, with Leclerc starting on pole, and is in dominant form this season with 11 wins so far.

He equalled the nine in a row set in 2013 by now-retired Sebastian Vettel on his way to a fourth successive title with Red Bull.

Mercedes George Russell was fifth fastest with Fernando Alonso sixth for Aston Martin and Lando Norris seventh for McLaren.

Brazilian reserve and F2 champion Felipe Drugovich replaced Lance Stroll at Aston Martin for the session as part of a requirement to give young drivers track time, and was 18th fastest.