In this Italian GP, Mercedes’ drivers have got the lead of FP1 and FP2 at Monza. Nico Rosberg dominated the first session and Hamilton did the same in the second one.
FP1:
The first session in Monza started with some news. The first one was that Button, Verstappen and Pérez would be testing the Halo, as Rosberg did it last week in Belgium. The other one was that this morning, Celis Jr. would replace Nico Hülkenberg during the morning.
The first cars who left the pitlane were both Ferrari, but at the end of the session, they couldn’t reach Mercedes. Hamilton, who finished P2, was 1 second ahead Räikkönen, who finished P3. The silver arrows went out early, and they were leading the table almost all the time.
Toro Rosso configured their cars in a different way: Kvyat wore the aerodynamic package that they used in Hockenheim and Sainz wore the one that they used before the German GP. Despite this, they didn’t use soft tyres, they used the medium ones, which didn’t make them reach the Top10 timing.
With 4 minutes to go, Alonso had problems with the gearbox, while Esteban Ocon showed himself strong, as he rank again ahead of Wehrlein.
Finally, Rosberg got the best time, and the top 10 was completed by his teammate Hamilton, Raikkonen, Vettel, Perez, Grosjean, Bottas, Verstappen, Gutierrez and Ricciardo.
FP2:
The second session started badly for Alonso. Due to the problem that made him leave the first practice prematurely (problems with the connector on the gearbox), McLaren had to announce that Alonso won’t leave the box until they have spent between 15 and 30 minutes trying to repair the car of the Spaniard.
After the first 30 miutes, the Mercedes went out on track again to test the super soft tires. Reaching almost the middle of the session, Ocon (who was again ahead of his teammate) suffered electrical problems and his car stopped on the track, causing the appearance of a period of VSC.
With 40 minutes remaining, Alonso left his garage, but his car stopped at the end of the pitlane. This time, the problems came from the clutch.
In the final minutes, Sainz reported problems by radio, saying that the feelings he had in the car were like if he had a puncture.
At the end of the session, it was Hamiton who got the best time, followed by Nico Rosberg. Vettel took the third fastest time, and the Top10 was completed by Räikkönen, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Alonso, Bottas, Grosjean and Button.