Ferrari brought an upgraded engine to their home grand prix at Monza this weekend and arguably, it seems to be doing very well from a overall lap time. The Ferrari’s were just behind the clearly dominant Mercedes in Free Practice 2:
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m22.801s | – | 40 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m22.994s | 0.193s | 42 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m23.254s | 0.453s | 33 |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m23.427s | 0.626s | 28 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 1m23.732s | 0.931s | 25 |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m24.003s | 1.202s | 33 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1m24.259s | 1.458s | 24 |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m24.299s | 1.498s | 41 |
| 9 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m24.516s | 1.715s | 35 |
| 10 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m24.549s | 1.748s | 28 |
| 11 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m24.556s | 1.755s | 20 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m24.587s | 1.786s | 40 |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m24.653s | 1.852s | 42 |
| 14 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas/Ferrari | 1m24.674s | 1.873s | 33 |
| 15 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m24.981s | 2.180s | 25 |
| 16 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor/Mercedes | 1m25.083s | 2.282s | 38 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m25.240s | 2.439s | 31 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Manor/Mercedes | 1m25.275s | 2.474s | 13 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1m25.555s | 2.754s | 39 |
| 20 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m25.614s | 2.813s | 33 |
| 21 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m25.643s | 2.842s | 31 |
| 22 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1m25.833s | 3.032s | 45 |
Lewis Hamilton, with a fresh basket of engine parts for the balance of the season, topped the time sheet in FP2 with his teammate, Nico Rosberg, leading FP1.
Pirelli were running some of their experimental tires again this weekend in an effort to make a more durable tire and avoid blowouts. The drivers were not entirely happy with the soft compounds but they didn’t seem to be experiencing quite the tire issues that last weekend presented.
The bigger new is that it seems Monza has finally reached an agreement with Formula to host the Italian Grand Prix for three years. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said:
“Regretfully we cannot sign it here legally.
“More importantly we have reached an agreement after a few months of negotiations between the lawyers.
“We are going through all the small details together and we will sign this back in England.
“The contract is only for three years, but I hope we will be here for another 100.”
That’s good news if you’re a big fan of the Temple of Speed.
Hat Tip: AUTOSPORT
3 years is enough time to prepare the Imola track up to “modern” standards and compete with Monza for the race.