F1 GP Italia, Free Practice 2: Ferrari in front with Vettel and Raikkonen

Ferrari in the lead in the second free practice session on Friday, with Sebastian Vettel author of the fastest lap – 1:21.105 – ahead of his teammate Raikkonen and Mercedes di Hamilton, 28 cents behind the top. The Brianza track, which returned dry after the morning rain, allowed the riders to make up for lost time, even if the session was interrupted in the first twenty minutes by a frightening accident which occurred on the Clean di Ericsson, who fortunately escaped unharmed from his car.

The Red also stood out in the long runs, with Raikkonen on the yellow rubber – while Hag he lapped with only the supersoft compound – constant and fast, but the Mercedes they remain very close. The top ten of the first day on track ends with Bottas, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Ocon, Perez, Leclerc and Hulkenberg.

News – Dry track when the green light came on in FP2 of the Italian GP. The two Saubers lead the way but after one lap the red flag waves along the track: Marcus Ericsson speeds down the starting straight and loses control of his car at the first chicane, bouncing off the barriers and turning over several times in the air. Once he catches his breath, the Swede emerges unharmed from his C37. The accident was caused by the DRS remaining open; a problem that was also encountered shortly afterwards on Leclerc's car, and which the mechanics were then able to resolve during the session.

The track becomes usable again at 16.22pm, and the first time trials arrive immediately. Sainz sets a time of 1:27.715, then Hulkenberg Hamilton alternates at the top with Vettel Raikkonen and then Vettel again, the only one on the red tire - the others are on the soft tires - and the fastest in 1:21.716. At mid-session the German is ahead of Raikkonen, Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Perez, Sainz and Ocon.

Shortly afterwards, Bottas, Grosjean and Gasly were among the first to mount the supersofts for the qualifying simulation. Hamiton overtakes Raikkonen and moves to 1 tenth behind Vettel, while Ricciardo climbs to fifth place. The entire grid switched to supersofts, except for Sainz, Hartley and Alonso.

At the 60 minute mark, Vettel dropped to 1:21.105, but in a new sprint attempt he lost control of the car at the Parabolica and ended up in the gravel! The SF71-H touches the rear against the protective wheels but manages to set off again and reach the pits: after changing the wing and cleaning the rocks from the cockpit, the German goes back to spinning. On the track his reference time holds ahead of those of Hamilton, Raikkonen, Bottas, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Ocon, Perez, Hulkenberg and Grosjean.

In the final stages the drivers dedicate themselves to long runs as usual: Raikkonen and the Mercedes are on the soft tyres, while Vettel returns to lap on the red compound. The session ends with the two Ferraris in the lead ahead of Hamilton's Mercedes.

F1 GP Italia – Times, results and laps Free Practice 2