#EmiliaRomagnaGP FP2: @CharlesLeclerc heads time-sheets as @Max33Verstappen’s struggles continued. #F1

Leclerc Emilia Romagna FP2 – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ended his day as he started it, on top of the time-sheets at the Emilia Romagna GP ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda who completed the top three as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s struggles continued wounding up seventh.

Leclerc set the session-topping benchmark of a 1:15.906 on the C5 red marked Soft compounds and was 0.192 seconds clear of Piastri as Tsunoda was a further 0.380 off the Monegasque driver in third.

After he was also quickest in the earlier Free Practice 1 session, Leclerc continued as the front runner through the early phase of the day’s second 60-minute practice session when the cars were split across the C3 white-branded Hards and C4 yellow side-walled Medium rubber.

When they swapped them for the C5 softs for the mid-session qualifying simulation flyers, Leclerc posted the best time of a 1:15.969, before going fastest again to finish the day at the head of the times.

McLaren may have headed Ferrari as Lando Norris’s only hot-lap on the softer tyres began promising with two purple sectors before running wide out of the two downhill Rivazza corners.

When Norris dipped his right-side wheels into the gravel trap on the exit of turn two, the Briton slammed on the brakes and aborted his tour in the pits from, which he re-emerged later on to complete his long race run data gathering that normally concludes the day’s action.

The other McLaren of Piastri was able to reach 0.192 off Leclerc’s best effort as Tsunoda slotted into third place.

Mercedes pairing Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell improved on their second flying laps to jump into fourth and fifth respectively, demoting Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz as he suffered an off-track excursion at Variante Alta on his second hot-lap.

Red Bull Racing’s Verstappen registered a first softs flyer that was 0.541 off Leclerc’s best as the championship leader continued to struggle heavily in sector two, where the Dutchman had been off-track in Free Practice 2.

Where he and team-mate Sergio Perez – in eighth place behind Verstappen – attempted another qualifying simulation stint, Verstappen came across a slow-moving Hamilton through the Villeneuve chicane and angrily abandoned his hot-lap.

When Verstappen cut across the Mercedes to vent his fury – Hamilton done an apology wave to his 2021 championship rival – Perez was closing down on the pairing on the rundown to Tosa and so the Mexican too backed-off.

Verstappen then later had an off-track excursion through the gravel trap between the Rivazza’s as he completed long race pace run.

Perez also is currently under investigation from the stewards for impeding Leclerc at Tosa.

Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten.

RB’s Daniel Ricciardo finished FP2 outside the top ten in 11^th place and ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who was 12^th and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who took 13^th in the classification.

Alpine duo Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly placed 14^th and 15^th respectively and in-front of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas who took 16^th and Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who came 17^th in the order.

Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant ended the day 18^th and brought up the rear respectively as Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu split the pairing in 19^th.

You can see the full Formula 1 MSC Cruises Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell’Emilia Romagna 2024 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1235/italy/practice-2.html

#EmiliaRomagnaGP FP1 Report: @CharlesLeclerc edges @GeorgeRussell63 by 0.104s. #F1

@alex_albon commits his future to @WilliamsRacing. #F1

#F1 MSC Cruises Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell’Emilia Romagna 2024 Preview. #EmiliaRomagnaGP