Vettel reveals damage done by practice spin

Sebastian Vettel was relieved to escape without major damage after spinning off at Curva Parabolica and cracking a rear wing in Friday practice for the Italian Grand Prix. Vettel topped the timesheets in Friday's only dry session, boosting Ferrari hopes of a first home win since 2010.

The session came with a stark warning for Vettel, who created headlines with an embarrassing crash at a fan event in Milan on Wednesday.

On-track errors in Azerbaijan, France and Germany have seen Vettel give up standings leads to Lewis Hamilton, who will enter Sunday's race with a 17-point deficit.

Sebastian Vettel had a brief trip to the gravel in FP2 ????

But he recovered to top the timesheet ????#ItalianGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/PZYjDiBJ87 — Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2018

But Vettel was happy to learn the limits of Monza when prizes were not being dished out, an remains confident heading into the weekend.

"I thought I managed it without touching [the wall] but I had just a slight touch so we broke a little bit the rear wing endplate which we had to change," Vettel said.

"The car was fine. At least I got out of the sandpit, which was difficult as a child, but nowadays I don't want to spend much time there. I am happy that I can carry on.

"I wanted to run but we had to check the car first, it was good that we got out this afternoon. I lost a bit of time with my spin but I was trying a bit too hard."

Vettel's best time of one minute 21.105 seconds was two tenths quicker than both team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton.