After Friday practice at the Monza circuit, it appears as if McLaren are the team to beat this weekend.
However, Mercedes and Michael Schumacher have shown promising one-lap pace, and several technical issues in FP2 stopped them from showing their full potential. Ferrari have decent pace, and the gap between Alonso and Massa is at its lowest in years.
Red Bull, meanwhile, are disappointed with their pace, stating they need drastic improvements by tomorrow afternoon.
First practice
Much focus was on Ma Qing Hua, making his debut appearance for the HRT team, and the first ever Chinese driver to take part in an official F1 session.
He ended the day last, 1.9 seconds off Pedro de la Rosa. On his first flying lap, he misjudged the braking spot at the first chicane, and clattered over the kerbs.
Kimi Raikkonen made the same mistake, before later crashing his Lotus over the harsher kerbs of the Roggia (second) chicane.
Michael Schumacher set the fastest time on the harder tyre – a 1:25.422, over 0.3 seconds faster than Jenson Button. Teammate Nico Rosberg was third, followed by the two Ferraris. The Red Bulls struggled back in 9th and 11th.
There were two retirements near the end of the session, both appearing to be technical-related. Fernando Alonso stopped at the first chicane and Pastor Maldonado pulled over at Lesmo 1 with his DRS flap open.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:25.422 26
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.723 +0.301 29
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:25.762 +0.340 26
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:25.800 +0.378 22
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:25.861 +0.439 27
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.944 +0.522 30
7. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1:26.046 +0.624 25
8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.323 +0.901 26
9. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:26.390 +0.968 24
10. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:26.504 +1.082 19
11. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:26.508 +1.086 18
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:26.518 +1.096 21
13. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1:26.641 +1.219 26
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.746 +1.324 23
15. Jerome d'Ambrosio Lotus-Renault 1:27.180 +1.758 29
16. Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes 1:27.192 +1.770 22
17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.373 +1.951 25
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.789 +2.367 24
19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:27.855 +2.433 27
20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:28.578 +3.156 20
21. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:28.751 +3.329 26
22. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:29.207 +3.785 21
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:29.331 +3.909 21
24. Ma Qing Hua HRT-Cosworth 1:31.239 +5.817 26
Second practice
Local hero Fernando Alonso was forced to retire again with 20 minutes to go in FP2, cruising back to the pits in second gear. Despite not appearing for the rest of the session, he still managed third place, 0.05 seconds off Lewis Hamilton.
The McLarens were separated by 3 hundreths of a second at the front. Again, the Ferraris were very evenly matched, but Mercedes were unable to perform in FP2, due to a raft of issues.
Both cars lost their DRS systems at some point during the session. Schumacher’s car stopped communicating telemetry, while Rosberg suffered a variety of technical glitches.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.290 32
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.328 +0.038 35
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:25.348 +0.058 17
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:25.430 +0.140 43
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:25.446 +0.156 41
6. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1:25.504 +0.214 42
7. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:25.546 +0.256 40
8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:25.547 +0.257 36
9. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.068 +0.778 32
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:26.094 +0.804 38
11. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:26.104 +0.814 35
12. Jerome d'Ambrosio Lotus-Renault 1:26.157 +0.867 36
13. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:26.394 +1.104 31
14. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:26.404 +1.114 42
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.724 +1.434 33
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.730 +1.440 17
17. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:26.783 +1.493 39
18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:26.841 +1.551 39
19. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.864 +1.574 36
20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:27.222 +1.932 36
21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:27.944 +2.654 36
22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:27.968 +2.678 36
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:28.575 +3.285 34
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:28.779 +3.489 21
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