George Russell finishes the second free practice as the fastest of all. The Brit’s Mercedes seemed very strong in the qualifying and race simulations and ended just over a tenth ahead of Charles Leclerc in second place. Max Verstappen could not keep up with the pace of the Silver Arrows. The Dutchman was stuck in ninth place.
Read more Max Verstappen struggles with RB22 during second free practice at Monza: ‘Like I’m driving on ice’
For Verstappen, FP2 was his first session in the car. During the morning practice, the four-time world champion had to give up his car to Ayumu Iwasa. Verstappen was not the only one who had to miss the session. Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Sergio Pérez were also only present on the track for the first time in the afternoon.
Verstappen dissatisfied
The teams started with runs on the medium and hard tires. The Mercedes drivers looked strong immediately and were first and second on the leaderboard for a long time. Verstappen complained after about ten minutes that he had no downforce and that in the slow corners he felt like he was driving on ice.
The Dutchman did not complain about this to his regular engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, but to Tom Hart. Hart filled in as Verstappen’s engineer for a session for the first time, to get a preview of their future collaboration.
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After the session was halfway through, many drivers switched to the soft tire. George Russell was the fastest in these first runs, but the gap to Ferrari and McLaren was significantly smaller. Verstappen again did not come close and was eight tenths of a second behind the Brit in ninth place.
Searching for space
Just like in the first session, there were also drivers in the second practice who got in each other’s way. For example, Lando Norris had to brake hard and even went through the grass with two wheels to avoid Lance Stroll, who was slowly leaving the pit lane. This incident did not go unnoticed by the FIA and will be investigated after the practice.
Tomorrow, the race weekend at ’the Temple of Speed’ will resume. At 12:30 PM, the third free practice is scheduled. After this last chance for the drivers to fine-tune the car, qualifying will start at 4:00 PM.
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