Max Verstappen TOPPLED as Lewis Hamilton complains about Mercedes in Monza FP2

Max Verstappen in Hungary — Photo: © LAT Images

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Verstappen TOPPLED as Hamilton complains about Mercedes in Monza FP2

Max Verstappen was knocked off his perch during a hectic FP2 at Monza

Anna Malyon

Friday 1 September 2023 18:21 Updated: 21:18

Birthday celebrations were in order for Carlos Sainz, as he knocked Max Verstappen off the top spot on the timesheets during FP2 at Ferrari's home race in Monza.

Verstappen was not able to fend off his competition, despite finishing first in FP1, with Lando Norris, Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri also finishing above the championship leader.

Charles Leclerc looked promising in the session but ultimately finished P6, ahead of Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg who rounded off the top ten.

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Early Problems

An early red flag came out after Lance Stroll's car grinded to a halt at the edge of the track, due to a fuel system issue.

He communicated over the team radio that he had 'completely lost power,' raising concerns that this setback could impact his qualifying session. This came after Felipe Drugovich had taken over his seat for FP1.

Despite efforts to address the issue, it was ultimately confirmed that the problem was beyond repair for the current practice session.

After the restart, Piastri also encountered problems after he accused Lewis Hamilton of impeding him on a flying lap.

As each car on the track started encountering traffic, they found themselves in a tight cluster, with all drivers being reluctant to provide a slipstream to the others.

Promising signs for Ferrari

At Ferrari's home race in Monza, both drivers will be eager to deliver strong performances. The session already showed promising signs, with both drivers demonstrating their dominance in each sector during the early parts of the session.

Both Ferraris consistently held top positions throughout the majority of the session, with Sainz leading the timesheets when there were 20 minutes left.

However, Lando Norris and Verstappen continued to close in, keeping the competition fierce.

The Italian team managed to maintain their lead position, providing them with optimism and a strong chance of securing pole position in the upcoming qualifying session on Saturday.

Mixed emotions for Red Bull

Sergio Perez suffered problems in FP2 in Monza

The Red Bull team focused on practicing their slipstream strategies, which proved effective as Perez briefly managed to claim the top spot in the second half of the session.

After facing traffic in the middle sector, Verstappen rose to third. Despite his race engineers advising him to pit, he insisted on making another attempt, prompting a stubborn response of: "It is not qualifying, Max."

Another red flag interrupted the session, as despite Perez initially holding a position ahead of Verstappen, he unfortunately spun into the gravel and collided with the wall, bringing an early end to his time on track.

Verstappen was not able to continue his dominance in FP2, giving both Red Bull something to ponder this evening.