EL2 - Monza: Ferrari and Max Verstappen do not leave each other

Carlos Sainz punctuated Friday's day at the head of free practice 2, this Friday, at the Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari and championship leader Max Verstappen are neck and neck with less than twenty-four hours to go before qualifying.

Published on 09/09/2022 à 18:07

⁰ View comments)

EL2 – Monza: Ferrari and Max Verstappen never leave each other

After Charles Leclerc, it was Carlos Sainz who set the best time in EL2. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

Ferrari continues its march forward towards Monza. After Charles Leclerc earlier in the day during Free Practice 1, it was the turn of Carlos Sainz to place the Team at the top of the timesheet at the end of FP2. The Spaniard was ahead Max Verstappen of 143 thousandths and Charles Leclerc of 193 thousandths, suggesting possibly more balanced debates than at Zandvoort or at Spa-Francorchamps between Red Bull and Ferrari.

Throughout the first part of the session, the teams sought speed on a lap, despite the numerous engine penalties imposed. On medium rubber, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc initially competed for first place, the Dutchman stealing the top of the timesheet from the Monegasque by only 4 thousandths. Just before a red flag was waved due to a mechanical problem suffered by Mick Schumacher At mid-session, the Batavian put on the reds and improved the reference time by 5 tenths, relegating Leclerc to half a second.

That's when Carlos Sainz came out of the woods to set a nice time in 1'21"664, also on the red rubber, which allowed him to outclass the two main protagonists of this 2022 season. Behind, no one did not try to dispossess the Spaniard of control of the session, since everyone attacked the race simulations. Note the encouraging third place of Lando Norris, who took advantage of new red tires to position himself just ahead of George Russell and Checo Perez, two drivers having set their best time in mediums. As in EL1 where they were 6th and 7th, the two drivers Alpine finished very close again, in 8th and 9th position, ahead of Alex Albon (10e).

For its part, Alpha Tauri experienced another complicated session with only 14th place Pierre Gasly, whose fever came down after several days of illness. The Norman finished ahead of his Japanese teammate. As a reminder, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas et Yuki tsunoda will all receive engine penalties on the grid on Sunday. See you Saturday noon at 13 p.m. for Free Practice 3.

ALSO READ > EL1 – Monza: Ferrari at the forefront, but through illusion