Italian GP 2016, Practice Two: Lewis Hamilton faster than Nico Rosberg
Ferrari bed in new engine; Both McLarens in top ten at Monza
Monday 5 September 2016 09:05, UK
Lewis Hamilton returned to the top of the timesheet ahead of Nico Rosberg in Friday practice at the Italian GP.
Hamilton, who was fastest in every session last year at Monza, was beaten by his Mercedes team-mate in Practice One on Friday morning.
But the Englishman had the edge in the afternoon, outpacing Rosberg by almost two tenths of a second with the quickest time of the day.
"It's going to be close this weekend, but I'm going to give it everything I've got," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
Sebastian Vettel was third, nearly half a second down on Hamilton but two tenths up on Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. The pair only completed 61 laps as the Scuderia bedded in the newly-upgraded engines debuting this weekend at their home race.
"We're trying a lot of different things on Friday - on full beans, not at full beans, at different times," said Vettel. "Friday's always difficult, but it looked okay nevertheless. The feeling is not yet right, we need to adjust the car and find some more performance."
Fresh from his inspired drive into the points from last on the grid at Spa a week ago, Fernando Alonso produced the biggest surprise of the session by finishing in seventh behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
Even at Ferrari's home event, Verstappen remains the main talking point in the paddock following recent criticism of his driving style. It was revealed on Friday that FIA race director Charlie Whiting had given Verstappen a 'gentle warning' after studying footage of his driving in Spa.
"I think we need people to race and it's our silly regulations which stop them racing," F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told Sky Sports News HQ. "Don't do this don't do that, start at the back because you change your spark plugs, it's all mad."
Alonso's McLaren's team-mate Jenson Button was 10th quickest as the team maintained their recent improvement around a circuit which was expected to highlight the deficiencies of their Honda power unit. A year ago at Monza, McLaren were at the back of the field and only out-qualified the Manor team.
Asked if they could reach the final phase of qualifying on Saturday, Button told SSNHQ: "It's possible. We didn't do anything different to what we normally do on a Friday so it's definitely possible. The car's working reasonably well and my lap was pretty good until Kimi backed out of his in front and held me up for a couple of corners. I'm pretty happy."
But British rookie Jolyon Palmer, yet to score a point in his debut campaign and facing an uphill struggle to retain a seat for 2017, was slowest of all in his Renault.
Practice Two timesheet
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:22.801
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, + 0.193
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, + 0.453
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, + 0.626
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, + 0.931
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, + 1.202
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1.458
8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, + 1.498
9. Romain Grosjean, Haas, + 1.715
10. Jenson Button, McLaren, + 1.748
11. Felipe Massa, Williams, + 1.755
12. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, + 1.786
13. Sergio Perez, Force India, + 1.852
14. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, + 1.873
15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, + 2.180
16. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, + 2.282
17. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, + 2.439
18. Esteban Ocon, Manor, +2.474
19. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, + 2.754
20. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, + 2.813
21. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, + 2.842
22. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, + 3.032
