Friday Report - Hamilton quickest

Lewis Hamilton
© Mercedes

By Peter Habicht

Lewis Hamilton topped the timing sheets in today's second free practice for Mercedes with a 1:20.738s set in the first half of the session just minutes before Haas Team's Kevin Magnussen lost grip at the rear of his VF-24 at the second Lesmo, sending the car into the wall and bringing out a red flag.

The pause in running lasted 12 minutes as teams prepared to change run plans, sending most of the field out on soft tires later in the hour.

McLaren's Lando Norris finished the day just .003s behind his fellow Briton, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Norris teammate Oscar Piastri .103s and .120s behind Hamilton, respectively. Sainz teammate Leclerc was next quickest followed by Hamilton teammate George Russell, who joined the session late following repairs to his car after Kimi Antonelli's impact at Parabolica in the opening practice session.

Haas Team's Nico Hulkenberg was seventh fastest, followed by 2021 race winner Daniel Ricciardo for Team RB. The Astons of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both improved on their earlier session times to round out the top ten.

Sauber's Valtteri Bottas was next quickest followed by Haas Team's Kevin Magnussen, whose day ended 30 minutes into the session emerging unhurt but nose first into the barrier. Williams' Alex Albon was 13th just ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who did not opt to complete a timed lap on soft tires, instead running medium compounds during the session.

Verstappen teammate Sergio Perez was 15th in the order, ahead of Team RB's Yuki Tsunoda, Albon teammate Franco Colapinto, and the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon. Sauber's Guanyu Zhou was slowest in the session with a 1:22.223s lap around Monza.

Free practice three starts at 12:30p tomorrow, and qualifying will begin at 4p.