Italian GP – Free Practice 2: Hamilton still ahead, Rosberg gets closer

After the lunch break, it’s time for the second Free Practice session of the 2015 Italian Grand Prix. As for the weather, the skies remain clear over Monza. The 20 drivers will therefore practice on a dry track, while rain is forecasted for tomorrow afternoon’s Qualifying.

GREEN LIGHT: #FP2 under way at Monza. McLaren out early for crucial track time #ItalianGP #ForzaF1 pic.twitter.com/9hpe9dKPvV

— Formula 1 (@F1) 4 Septembre 2015

At the start of the session, Will Stevens with his Manor and Fernando Alonso with his McLaren were the first to hit the track. As in the morning, they practiced starts at the end of the pit lane. All drivers were equipped with hard tires. The very first time was set by Roberto Merhi. Scuderia Ferrari took the lead for the best time at the beginning of the session, first Kimi Räikkönen, then Sebastian Vettel: 1:26.548 for the four-time World Champion, nearly two seconds off the best time set this morning by Lewis Hamilton. The latter, incidentally, has not yet set a real time.

After 10 minutes, a problem for Ricciardo, stuck in first gear: his engineer insists that he not change gear. It’s a hydraulic problem causing this: a new difficulty for Red Bull and the Australian, who will receive a 25-place penalty on the grid for various component changes to his power unit.

A hydraulics issue halts Daniel’s #FP2. Team working hard to get him back out soon. #ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/wayq9ehbkq

— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) 4 Septembre 2015

At Romain Grosjean’s, on the other hand, everything is fine so far: the Frenchman gets his seat back after lending it to Jolyon Palmer this morning.

At the top of the timesheets is Lewis Hamilton, who set the mark at 1:25.133. Just like this morning, Hamilton responded to an improvement from Nico Rosberg. The German will have to work tirelessly on his setup to address the overwhelming dominance of his teammate.

When it comes to top speeds, Force India has successfully lightened its two cars: they are now the fastest in this area, dethroning Mercedes.

SPEED TRAP: @SChecoPerez – if he goes much faster he’ll take off #ItalianGP #FP2 pic.twitter.com/gAY84MXAtA

— Formula 1 (@F1) 4 Septembre 2015

After the first run on hard tires, here is the provisional Top 5:

EARLY PACE-SETTERS:

1 HAM

2 ROS +0.166

3 VET +0.967

4 HUL +1.154

5 MAS +1.190

#ItalianGP #FP2 pic.twitter.com/6T676NNIhl

— Formula 1 (@F1) 4 September 2015

Carlos Sainz is the first driver to fit the yellow-banded soft tires. The lap times logically improve.

After half an hour, Sebastian Vettel takes the reference time with 1:25:038, and the Italian crowd applauds the German’s strong performance.

At Toro Rosso, following his teammate this morning, Max Verstappen also had his moment by braking with two wheels on the grass before the Ascari chicane. But this time, the young Dutchman maintained his momentum and was able to escape the gravel trap.

Verstappen loses his rear at Ascari and just about escapes the gravel #FP2 #ItalianGP #ForzaF1 pic.twitter.com/dF43M9a5TI

— Formula 1 (@F1) 4 Septembre 2015

In the lead, Lewis Hamilton takes command: 1:24.279, a 7-tenths gap over Sebastian Vettel!

Mid-session, Nico Rosberg nevertheless comes within 21 thousandths of Hamilton. The Top 10 is now as follows: Hamilton – Rosberg – Vettel – Hülkenberg – Räikkönen – Grosjean – Maldonado – Pérez – Bottas – Massa. The two Ferrari drivers are thus surrounded by the 8 Mercedes drivers, further proof if any were needed of the competitiveness of the German engine!

The session continues and the benchmark times stabilize: the drivers are primarily practicing long runs in preparation for the Grand Prix. Romain Grosjean in his Lotus strings together good laps: on average, he is faster than the Force India of Nico Hülkenberg or the Williams of Valtteri Bottas. However, he still trails behind the Mercedes or the Ferrari of Vettel. In terms of tire longevity, Carlos Sainz wins the prize for the most enduring driver: 32 laps with the same set of tires (soft) for the Spaniard. The condition of his tires is being closely monitored, given the Spa-Francorchamps controversy…

**There is now half an hour remaining** and only Sergio Pérez has improved in the Top 10: he moves up to 4th place. The first driver powered by Renault is Daniel Ricciardo, who is only in 13th place. The Australian was able to return to the track after his problem at the start of the session. McLaren-Honda is still at the bottom of the table: Fernando Alonso 16th and Jenson Button 19th. The English veteran has only been able to complete 3 laps so far in this session.

From a general point of view, the cars are getting faster and faster as the laps progress in the relay race simulations. At Mercedes, Nico Rosberg is more conscientious than Lewis Hamilton and accumulates laps on the track.

We are now entering the last ten minutes of the session: everyone has returned to the track, except for Jenson Button. The drivers are focused on the end of their race simulations: no significant improvement on the timesheet.

This second Free Practice session is coming to an end: the checkered flag is waved. Nico Rosberg is unable to improve his reference time. So Lewis Hamilton doubles down today. But Rosberg showed solid pace in preparation for the race, as did Kimi Räikkönen with Ferrari. It remains to be seen if this work will truly pay off on Sunday afternoon.

At the opposite end of the standings, we can note the surprising 20th place of Daniil Kyvat: the Russian primarily focused on working on his race pace at the expense of pure performance, so this position should be taken with a grain of salt.

Here is the final ranking of this session:

Now it’s time for Saturday’s day, which will determine the starting grid at the end of the qualifications.

Join us tomorrow morning on motorsinside.com for the summary of the third Free Practice session of the 2015 Italian Grand Prix!