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If the second free practice session of the Italian GP was to give an idea of tomorrow’s qualifying without the “party mode”, we had a first important indication: the prohibition of the extreme map will not change anything, since Mercedes continues to dominate also in the single lap in Monza.
Lewis Hamilton was fastest on soft tires in 1’20 “192, a performance within one second of Raikkonen’s record in 2018 (1’19” 119) after Friday’s free practice. The Englishman, after leaving the first lap in the hands of his partner, regained control of the situation, leaving Valtteri Bottas in 262 thousandths. The hexa-champion is proving his superiority at this stage of the season, but the black arrows seem truly impregnable regardless of the mapping limitations.
The two Mercedes have cut almost nine tenths of all: to amaze it was Lando Norris with McLaren in 1’21 “089. The Englishman did his qualifying simulation when the track was more rubberized and he benefited, revealing the good form of the MCL35 on the fastest lap, because he could not meet the scheduled duration.
But what surprised the afternoon was Pierre Gasly, fourth, with the AlphaTauri powered by the Honda engine. The Frenchman at 1’21 “121 also lagged behind Max Verstappen with Red Bull. Too bad he had to interrupt the long run due to a shock absorber problem. The Dutchman leaves Hamilton a second: the Dutchman probably hasn’t yet assimilated the thunder of the morning when it crashed (not violently) at the exit of the Ascari Bypass.
Red Bull seems a bit in trouble, enough to knock them down from the AlphaTauri: Faenza’s car’s good impression is also confirmed by Daniil Kvyat’s seventh time capable of a good 1’21 “376. The Russian was preceded by 63 thousandths of second Carlos Sainz’s second with McLaren The Spaniard is an excellent sixth place as he had to miss the Belgian GP due to a problem with his Renault engine.
Ferrari has improved compared to the morning but is only ninth with Charles Leclerc who set his time in the wake of 1’21 “503, leading the Red to be the sixth force. In reality, Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault would also be ahead , but the Australian had his performance canceled due to a cut sanctioned by the commissioners and for the Cavallino fans there is the expectation of another difficult weekend.
Sebastian Vettel is twelfth (he would be out of Q3 in qualifying) – the German has never been comfortable with the Monza set-up with little load. Also in the afternoon he was the author of a spin at the exit of the first Lesmo corner. After oversteering he lost the SF1000 and ended up brushing the barriers with the rear wing, having crushed a tire during the long race.
At the same point, Leclerc also swerved and complained of a very difficult car to control. Rossa was caught between the two Racing Points with Lance Stroll eighth and Sergio Pérez tenth.
Esteban Ocon is out of the top 10 with Renault, while Ricciardo is in 15th place without wanting to make another qualifying simulation attempt. The session was characterized by a streamer of 15 cars at the launch of the single lap: the FIA intervened with a note specifying that anyone who entered qualifying with a launch lap that was too slow could be penalized. Hopefully, at least avoid the bad number of last year, when there were those, like Vettel, could not pitch for the last race.
Positive performance of Antonio Giovinazzi 13th with Alfa Romeo 53 thousandths of Vettel’s Ferrari. The Italian was much faster than Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn finished the Haas sandwich with Kevin Magnussen 16th and Romain Grosjean 18th.
In the queue was Nicolas Latifi in the oversight of George Russell, although the English had to take the measures with the low-load FW43 having missed the morning shift to make way for the Israeli Nissany.
