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.
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
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
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.
Lewis Hamilton finished P17 in FP2 after a poor session
Hamilton voiced his concern over the team radio regarding the straight-line speed of his car, making a comparison to his teammate George Russell's performance. He even expressed a preference to pit rather than complete the lap.
The seven-time world champion remained at the bottom of the timesheets for the majority of the session, eventually finishing P17.
His teammate Russell had a better session securing P9, but the team still hope to improve them results for Saturdays sessions.
Italian Grand Prix FP2 practice results - Friday September 1
GP CHINA
19 - 21 Apr
GP USA
3 - 5 May
GP ITALY
17 - 19 May
GP MONACO
24 - 26 May
GP CANADA
7 - 9 Jun
GP SPAIN
21 - 23 Jun
GP AUSTRIA
28 - 30 Jun
GP GREAT BRITAIN
5 - 7 Jul
GP HUNGARY
19 - 21 Jul
GP BELGIUM
26 - 28 Jul
GP NETHERLANDS
23 - 25 Aug
GP AZERBAIJAN
13 - 15 Sep
GP SINGAPORE
20 - 22 Sep
GP MEXICO
25 - 27 Oct
GP BRAZIL
1 - 3 Nov
GP QATAR
29 Nov - 1 Dec
GP ABU DHABI
6 - 8 Dec
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