Formula 1 News

Italian GP, 2nd Free Practice Session: McLaren one-two 

Fernando Alonso dominated the Friday afternoon practice session at Monza, lapping eight tenths of a second clear of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Having missed much of the morning courtesy of a misfire, the McLaren driver took to the track early in the second session and soon established himself at the end of the times.

A mid-session run on soft tyres saw Alonso produce the 1:22.386 that would stand as the day’s fastest lap, and even when the rest of the field switched to softs for the final runs, the world champion’s 0.823 second advantage remained intact.

After their commanding morning performance, Ferrari had a less successful afternoon. Felipe Massa could only manage sixth, 1.3 seconds off the pace and a second shy of his first session times. The Brazilian also had a spin at the Roggia chicane, with Alonso having to take to the revised run-off to avoid him. Kimi Raikkonen was only eighth quickest, having been forced to sit out most of the session when he struck hydraulic problems after just five laps. He rejoined to complete a further seven laps right at the end of the 90 minutes. Ferrari’s problems allowed Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella to take third, despite some worrying clouds of black smoke from his brakes during the afternoon – a trait not seen to the same extent on any other car.

Robert Kubica was fourth fastest for BMW, ahead of Nico Rosberg’s Williams, with Nick Heidfeld splitting the Ferraris in seventh in the second BMW.

Heikki Kovalainen and Alex Wurz completed the top ten.

Aside from a plethora of minor trips across the chicanes, the only notable incident of the session was the red flag to retrieve Anthony Davidson’s Super Aguri. The Briton had come to a halt on the grass between the Lesmos, and with the marshals unable to retrieve the car safely, the session had to be halted for nine minutes.

source: autosport