Sebastian Vettel went fastest at the start of the Italian Grand Prix weekend at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. The German champion led the way in the dry FP2 session, ahead of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Racing Point Force India enjoyed a good start as Sergio Pérez topped the wet FP1,, with Esteban Ocon third.
Italian GP – Takeaways from Friday Practice
Both free practice sessions happened in different weather conditions. The rain made its presence felt during the First Practice session (FP1). During FP2, the conditions were dry. The Pirelli tire choice for this race is the white-striped medium tire, yellow-striped soft tire, and the red-striped supersoft tire.
Perez recorded his fastest lap in the first practice session in his last attempt with a 1:34.000s lap time. Vettel went fastest in FP2 with a 1.21.105s, 0.270s clear from his rivals.
Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson had a terrible crash due to a DRS malfunction at the start of FP2 but was lucky to walk away unharmed.
DRS OPEN!
The reason for Ericsson’s big shunt ?#ItalianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/w0GjPDf4xr
— Formula 1 (@F1) 31 de agosto de 2018
The main takeaways from the two practice sessions were:
- Although Vettel recorded the fastest lap of the day, the German hit trouble in both sessions. In FP1, Ferrari’s main driver went out for four laps and then had a gearbox change in his car. In FP2, he had a spin at the Parabolica which saw his car bump into the barriers.
- Mercedes‘ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas did not have a good performance during FP1, but lined up third and fourth in the afternoon session.
- Ferrari showed once again they have brilliant straight-line speed. Hamilton was third in the FP2 standings 0.287s behind Vettel’s lap time, while Bottas was 0.698s behind.
- Red Bull was again in no man’s land, with no threat from behind and without chances of reaching Ferrari and Mercedes level. Max Verstappen finished fifth in FP2, and Daniel Ricciardo ended up sixth, both cars were more than a second behind Vettel’s time.
- Force India dominated the midfield, with Esteban Ocon seventh and Sergio Pérez eighth in the dry session.
- McLaren remain at the back of the field. Lando Norris took over Vandoorne’s car in FP1 and finished last.
- Fernando Alonso finished 18th and Stoffel Vandoorne 19th, only in front of Ericsson, who could not complete one lap in FP2.
- Toro Rosso-Honda impressed in the wet FP1, with Brendon Hartley in fourth place and Pierre Gasly in sixth
- Sauber‘s Charles Leclerc finished ninth in FP2, very close to both Force India’s cars.
- Haas F1 team and Renault battled for a spot in the top 10.
The Last Word
Results of FP1:
| POS | DRIVER | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:34.000 | 18 | ||
| 2 | 1:34.550 | +0.550s | 28 | |
| 3 | 1:34.593 | +0.593s | 17 | |
| 4 | 1:35.024 | +1.024s | 17 | |
| 5 | 1:35.207 | +1.207s | 13 | |
| 6 | 1:35.438 | +1.438s | 19 | |
| 7 | 1:35.665 | +1.665s | 10 | |
| 8 | 1:35.995 | +1.995s | 15 | |
| 9 | 1:36.107 | +2.107s | 15 | |
| 10 | 1:36.238 | +2.238s | 8 | |
| 11 | 1:36.546 | +2.546s | 6 | |
| 12 | 1:36.648 | +2.648s | 10 | |
| 13 | 1:37.066 | +3.066s | 13 | |
| 14 | 1:37.426 | +3.426s | 14 | |
| 15 | 1:37.683 | +3.683s | 13 | |
| 16 | 1:37.790 | +3.790s | 11 | |
| 17 | 1:37.867 | +3.867s | 4 | |
| 18 | 1:37.929 | +3.929s | 10 | |
| 19 | 1:38.253 | +4.253s | 8 | |
| 20 | 1:38.282 | +4.282s | 9 |
Results of FP2:
| POS | DRIVER | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:21.105 | 27 | ||
| 2 | 1:21.375 | +0.270s | 31 | |
| 3 | 1:21.392 | +0.287s | 31 | |
| 4 | 1:21.803 | +0.698s | 35 | |
| 5 | 1:22.154 | +1.049s | 28 | |
| 6 | 1:22.296 | +1.191s | 28 | |
| 7 | 1:22.930 | +1.825s | 30 | |
| 8 | 1:22.942 | +1.837s | 32 | |
| 9 | 1:22.965 | +1.860s | 20 | |
| 10 | 1:23.063 | +1.958s | 30 | |
| 11 | 1:23.077 | +1.972s | 31 | |
| 12 | 1:23.193 | +2.088s | 32 | |
| 13 | 1:23.233 | +2.128s | 28 | |
| 14 | 1:23.402 | +2.297s | 34 | |
| 15 | 1:23.514 | +2.409s | 28 | |
| 16 | 1:23.531 | +2.426s | 16 | |
| 17 | 1:23.566 | +2.461s | 29 | |
| 18 | 1:23.741 | +2.636s | 23 | |
| 19 | 1:24.084 | +2.979s | 30 | |
| 20 | 2 |
MAIN PHOTO:
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