Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Sainz and Ferrari in the front row
Sainz achieved the best performance in the second free practice session at Monza. He is ahead of Verstappen and his teammate Leclerc. A red flag disrupted the session due to an engine issue for Schumacher.
Ferrari starts the weekend well. After a first free practice session led by the team, the second session went almost as smoothly. The drivers went much faster and this time it’s Sainz who set the fastest time. He is ahead of championship leader Verstappen and his teammate Leclerc.
The practice sessions were marked by a red flag in the middle of the session. Mick Schumacher was forced to pull over after an engine problem. It shut off on the track, forcing the driver to stop the session.
Sergio Perez also had to abandon the session 15 minutes before the end. A problem with the car prevented him from continuing.
McLaren and Albon are promising.
The very good free practice session carried out by Norris, who positions himself 4th. He starts the weekend off very well, just like his team, which sees Ricciardo very close to the top 10 with an 11th position.
Albon’s free practice sessions were equally brilliant with a 10th place finish. Williams’ choice to use the setup from Spa, which worked well, is paying off for now. The driver also had the highest top speed at 343 km/h.
Alpine continues on, while Mercedes falters.
Alpine, on their side, continues to do what they know best. Once again, both drivers finished in the top 10 of the second free practice session. Ocon came in 8th and Alonso 9th. A good omen for the weekend.
After good free practice 1 where the drivers finished 3rd and 4th, Mercedes experienced a slight drop in performance with less successful finishes. Hamilton finished 7th while Russell finished 5th.
The ranking of the second free practice session.
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sainz | Scuderia Ferrari | 1.21.664 | 23 | |
| 2 | Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1.21.807 | +0.143 | 26 |
| 3 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1.21.857 | +0.193 | 22 |
| 4 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1.22.338 | +0.674 | 28 |
| 5 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1.22.386 | +0.722 | 23 |
| 6 | Perez | Red Bull Racing | 1.22.394 | +0.730 | 25 |
| 7 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1.22.503 | +0.839 | 24 |
| 8 | Ocon | Alpine F1 Team | 1.22.728 | +1.064 | 28 |
| 9 | Alonso | Alpine F1 Team | 1.22.752 | +1.088 | 27 |
| 10 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1.22.835 | +1.171 | 24 |
| 11 | Ricciardo | McLaren F1 Team | 1.22.911 | +1.247 | 25 |
| 12 | Zhou | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1.22.938 | +1.274 | 29 |
| 13 | Bottas | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1.22.993 | +1.329 | 25 |
| 14 | Gasly | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1.23.135 | +1.471 | 24 |
| 15 | Tsunoda | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1.23.217 | +1.553 | 30 |
| 16 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1.23.557 | +1.893 | 24 |
| 17 | Vettel | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1.23.731 | +2.067 | 24 |
| 18 | Stroll | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1.23.785 | +2.121 | 26 |
| 19 | Latifi | Williams Racing | 1.23.932 | +2.268 | 22 |
| 20 | Schumacher | Haas F1 Team | 1.24.586 | +2.922 | 9 |
