Second Friday morning, Carlos Sainz set the fastest time in the second free practice session of the Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard from Ferrari set a time of 1’21”355, only 19 thousandths ahead of second Lando Norris (McLaren) and 185 thousandths ahead of third Sergio Perez (Red Bull).
The Mexican also, and above all, stood out with an exit from the track 10 minutes from the end of the session at the exit of the Parabolica. Too wide from the middle of this very long bend, he lost the rear of his Red Bull in the gravel and can consider himself lucky to have hit the rear only slightly. This accident resulted in a second red flag in this session. The first had been caused, after less than five minutes of driving, by a hydraulic problem on the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.
Verstappen caught in traffic
And Max Verstappen then? The double world champion only signed fifth place (+0”276) but was trafficked during his qualifying simulation. Hampered by many idling cars in the second sector (a usual problem at Monza), he asked his engineer to be able to make a second attempt, to have more bearings on Saturday. Request refused for the leader of the World Championship who had to content himself with testing his tires on the long stints and staying behind Oscar Piastri (4th) on the time sheet. Charles Leclerc (+0”361) completes the top 6 ahead of Alex Albon on medium tires on his Williams (7th, +0”624) and Fernando Alonso (8th, +0”716).
Gasly 13e, Ocon 15e
Another discreet session for the Alpines since Pierre Gasly took 13th place (+1”296) and Esteban Ocon 15th (+1”361). Decked out with different aerodynamic settings on his Mercedes compared to those of George Russell (9th, +0”821), Lewis Hamilton suffered and only took 17th place, setting his best time on medium tires (+1′ ‘428).
