@Charles_Leclerc edges @LewisHamilton in FP2. #ItalianGP #F1

Charles Leclerc ended the day as he started it, on top in a rain-affected Free Practice 2 session at the Italian Grand Prix.

 

 

The hour and a half session started with dry track conditions along with some damp patches, meaning the first 25 minutes drivers were able to run slick rubber.

 

As the morning rain compromised FP1 and the team’s programmes, this lead to a busy afternoon with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton posting the benchmark early with a quick lap of a 1:21.972 on the yellow-marked medium compounds.

 

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, also running mediums, was 0.303 slower with Leclerc using the harder rubber and 0.475 seconds adrift in fourth, and behind Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

 

The rain returned 25 minutes into the session, meaning the majority of the field rapidly changed to softs for their qualifying simulations before the conditions worsened.

 

Leclerc hit the top with a 1:20.978 and was posted 19 minutes into FP2.

 

Ferrari team-mate Vettel then followed suit, moving to second and two tenths behind the Monegasque youngster despite the former having set a quicker first sector.

 

While the Mercedes pairing missed the window to run their qualifying sims earlier on, both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas went out later on using the softer rubber once the track dried and improved with half an hour to go as the rain cleared.

 

Hamilton did enough to grab second, posting a lap just 0.068 seconds adrift of Leclerc’s benchmark to split the two Ferrari SF90’s.

 

Bottas wound up 0.369 off in fourth after lapping slower than his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton in all three sectors.

 

Red Bull ended the day in fifth and sixth respectively with Verstappen, who will be hit with a penalty due to taking on the latest-spec four Honda power-train, finished ahead of team-mate Alexander Albon with the former 0.372 seconds adrift despite the Milton Keynes-squad reckoning he was losing a full-second on the straights.

 

However, the Dutchman lost time on his flyer in the first sector and had to abandoned his second attempt thanks to the returning rain.

 

Albon who received his grid penalty at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix for upgrading to Honda’s latest engine, was 0.239 seconds off.

 

Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly had plenty of time to put in two hot laps on soft compounds before the rain as the Frenchman ended up seventh on his seconds attempt and pipped Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean by 0.029 seconds.

 

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo ended the day ninth on the time-sheets on his medium tyre run, and was only 0.011 seconds quicker than Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat who completed the top ten.

 

The other Renault of Nico Hulkenberg just missed out on the top ten, finishing 0.144 seconds faster than McLaren’s Carlos Sainz who posted his quick time on mediums.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who ran over a team member’s jack as he left for one of his stints, wound up 13th quickest and 0.012 seconds quicker than Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen, who went off at the Variante Rettifilo in the early stages of the session.

 

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was one of the four drivers to improve after the rain cleared, with the Canadian moving to 15th and ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.

 

This pushed down Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi to 17th place with McLaren’s Lando Norris missing most of the afternoon due to a water leak in his Renault-powered MCL34 before posting his time, which saw the Briton in a low 18th.

 

ROKiT Williams Racing’s Robert Kubica got the best of his team-mate George Russell to take 19th by over half a second in the rear battle.

 

While most drivers managed to set their times in the early stages before returning to the pits, 36 minutes in, the session was red flagged to allow the gravel to be cleared at the Variante Della Roggia Chicane.

 

The session resumed to green after a nine minute stoppage with some cars immediately returning to the track lead by Grosjean, with the Mercedes pairing also running installation laps on used rubber before completing their qualifying simulations on softs.

 

During the final stages of FP2, the field were running race simulations with the rain holding off before returning in the last five minutes.

 

You can read the full Formula 1 Heineken Gran Premio D’Italia Free Practice Two Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/races/1013/italy/practice-2.html

 

You can catch up on Free Practice One as well as the race preview at the following links:

 

@ScuderiaFerrari’s @Charles_Leclerc tops slippery FP1. #ItalianGP #F1

 

#F1 @Heineken #GranPremio D’Italia 2019 Preview – @F1

 

Selected Driver Quotes

 

Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “Practice was a bit of a challenge with the weather today; when it’s raining, it’s all risk and no real reward as you don’t really learn a lot, so we didn’t do a huge amount of running in the first session. It was mostly dry in FP2, so that was much better for everyone. As expected, the Ferraris are quite quick in a straight line, but our race pace felt strong and we seem to be a little closer on single lap pace than we were last week in Spa, so it looks like we can be in the fight. We’ll go through the data with a fine comb tonight, trying to see where I can improve as a driver and also what we can tweak with the set-up, to make sure we can squeeze everything out of the car. It’s going to be a really hard race on Sunday, but we seem to be close to the Ferraris which is good start to the weekend.”

 

Valtteri Bottas, #77, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “The first session was a bit messy, we couldn’t work through our programme as planned, but that was the same for everyone. It was raining in different areas of the track at different times, which made it tricky to get detailed data on tyres and car behaviour, but we got a bit of a feel for the car and that wasn’t too bad. The runs on higher fuel at the end felt good and the pace looked good as well, so that’s promising for Sunday. However, there’s still lots of room for improvements before we head into Qualifying tomorrow. We need to find the perfect set-up for our package and a good tow down the straights – that’s going to be key if we want to be able to fight for pole.”

 

Sebastian Vettel, #5, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90, “The day was ok, but we can still get more out of the car. FP1 was a bit of a scrappy session, with all the teams heading out as soon as the light went green after each red flag. We didn’t have the usual rhythm of a Friday, but the main thing is that we got some decent laps in and we know where our weaknesses are and what to focus on. For qualifying, we have to see what the conditions will be like, how careful we might need to be on the out lap, and how the tyres will work. Then we will take it from there. It is nice if you get a tow around here, and the priority is to get one perfect lap. Ahead of the race, you just want to improve the car and make it faster overall, because you need a car that allows you to have a good performance while also saving the tyres. We have some work to do, and I know that I can find more for tomorrow.”

 

Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “It was a special feeling to drive for Ferrari in Monza for the first time. I could actually see the tifosi cheering for us from the grandstands while I was driving, and it is just amazing to be here. The day went quite well. While it is nice to be quickest, I don’t think that we have a real picture of the whole situation yet due to the tricky conditions we faced on track today. In FP1, we were very competitive, especially on the intermediates, which is a positive. However, the lap times on the dry tyres in FP2 are not really representative and we have to keep working and understand where we can gain some more time. Our competitors are quick and we are still to see their full potential. The car felt good. In terms of race pace, we are not yet at the point we were in Spa. On the qualifying pace, we also have some work to do and we will give our all to do a good job tomorrow.”

 

Max Verstappen, #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB15: “It was a good day. Of course, the conditions were a bit tricky out there, but the car was working really well and we seem quite competitive on a track that doesn’t normally suit us. Around Monza, the real lap time is hard to see because of the tow but my fastest lap was done on my own and it felt good. I definitely think this new engine is a good step forward and you can feel the extra power which is positive. We know we won’t battle in qualifying as we will start at the back but looking at the long runs the pace was good and the car felt really nice to drive in all conditions which is always a big bonus. I would probably choose rain for Sunday starting at the back, as we will have a better chance of coming through the field, but even in the dry we can still be competitive and we will try to make a fun race out of it.”

 

Alexander Albon, #23, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB15: “There were a few crashes today as this track can be quite slippery when it’s raining, particularly with all the sap from the trees washing onto the track. We had mixed conditions, so we started out quite slowly but built up our confidence throughout the day. We are expecting similar conditions on Sunday so that is why everyone was out there trying to do some laps. I found the short runs were more positive than the long runs and, after today, I have a good idea about the things I need to change and work on for Sunday’s race. Of course, it’s not easy adjusting to less downforce, the braking feels different, but overall it didn’t feel too bad. I’m just finding my feet and that makes it important to get everything right. We will see what tomorrow brings but after today I’m feeling pretty good.”

 

Daniel Ricciardo, #3, Renault F1 Team, R.S.19: “It’s always fun around Monza and it’s good to be back here. It was a pretty positive day and it was nice to get a bit of wet weather driving in. The morning went relatively well and the afternoon was solid. We probably managed more running than we first expected as the weather looked worse on the radar. I was happy to get laps under my belt and the car felt good. I’m comfortable in both dry and wet and we have a decent base for both set-ups.”

 

Kimi Raikkonen, #7, Alfa Romeo Racing, C38: “Not a great start with my crash in FP1 but to be honest we didn’t really lose precious time as the mixed conditions continued and therefore no one could do any proper work. Same story in the afternoon, so even if the car felt good and we put in some good lap times we have to wait until tomorrow to see where exactly we are.”

 

Sergio Perez, #11, SportPesa Racing Point, RP19: “It was a bad start with a crash on my out lap in FP1. Luckily we didn’t lose any track time in FP2 when the track was a bit drier. We have a good amount of information for tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be able to close up the gap in qualifying when conditions could be very different.”

 

Lando Norris, #4, McLaren-Renault F1 Team, MCL34: “A bit of a messy day. FP1 wasn’t bad. The track was drying, so it wasn’t like you could do proper testing. The track was just getting drier and drier. But the car felt pretty good, fairly comfortable and from the bit of wet running we did, I was pretty happy. Obviously FP2 was not what we’d planned. I went out for one lap at the beginning but then we had an oil leak, so we had to fix that which meant I could only go out for the last 20 minutes or so, and I used all of those laps just to get up to speed. They were the first few dry laps I did of the day so I wanted to push and feel the limit of the car, but at the same time it was trying to figure out where to brake and things like that. So, on the whole a bit messy, but some productive things.”

 

Italian GP future secured until 2024

 

 

“La Pista Magica”, the Temple of Speed and home to Ferrari’s passionate “Tifosi”, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, which has hosted more Formula 1 World Championship Grands Prix than any other venue, will continue to host the Italian Grand Prix for another five seasons.

 

The agreement between Formula 1 and the Automobile Club d’Italia until 2024 was announced on Wednesday evening during a public event in Milan to celebrate the 90th anniversaries of both the Italian Grand Prix and Ferrari.

 

The Italian Grand Prix has been on the Formula 1 calendar since 1950 and held at Monza every year except for 1980 when it was hosted at Imola.

 

Monza has hosted 68 Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix and has decided the Driver’s titles on 12 occasions.

 

“We are really pleased to have reached an agreement with the ACI which ensures the Italian Grand Prix will remain on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship calendar until at least 2024,” explained Formula 1 CEO and Chairman Chase Carey. “This is one of four Grands Prix that were part of the 1950 championship and still features in the calendar and along with the British Grand Prix, it is the only one to have been held every year since then.”

 

“History, speed and passion are words that motorsport fans associate with Monza. The feeling one gets at this Grand Prix is truly unique, as is the circuit’s distinctive podium. I would like to thank the ACI, especially its President, Angelo Sticchi Damiani for its efforts and this five year deal means that another part of the jigsaw for the Formula 1 of the future, is now in place.”

 

“The championship features many historic venues such as Monza and also new countries in which the already vast fan-base of our sport can grow. For now, we can look forward to what is bound to be another great race this weekend, as we prepare for the FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO HEINEKEN D’ITALIA 2020 and in the years to come.”

 

Costa joins Dallara from 2020

 

 

Mercedes Technical Advisor Aldo Costa will leave Mercedes at the end of September and in 2020 will join Italian manufacturer Dallara as their new Chief Technical Officer.

 

Costa played a major role in the successes of Ferrari scoring six constructor championships from 1999-2004 along with another two in 2007-08 also five consecutive Driver’s and Constructors Championships with Mercedes during the current V6 Turbo Hybrid Era.

 

Last year, Costa stepped back from his role as Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Engineering Director and has continued to support the Silver Arrows in an advisory role during 2019, while also spending more time with family in Italy.

 

“Since stepping back from my role as Engineering Director, I have enjoyed supporting the team during this season and have also been searching for my next challenge beyond Formula One,” explained Aldo Costa. “After many years working at the pinnacle of our sport, I am excited to be able to contribute some of what I have learned to other racing series and to high-performance automotive projects outside racing.”

 

“I remember writing to Giampaolo at the very beginning of my career for a job – at the time, there was nothing available, but he was able to open some doors for me in the industry. Now, many years later, it feels like the wheel has come full circle and I am proud to be joining this iconic company of Italian motorsport.”

 

“One of my personal passions is to mentor and grow young talent, and it will be a focus for me to help attract and develop the next generations of Italian engineering talent at Dallara in the years ahead.”

 

“Finally, thank you once again to all my friends and team-mates at Mercedes; it has been an extraordinary privilege to be part of the team’s development and success – and we have been able to build an incredibly strong group to tackle the challenges of the future.” Costa concluded.

 

Alfa Romeo Racing running special livery for Italian GP

 

 

Alfa Romeo Racing are running a special one-off livery on their C38 racers for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix as the Italian marque celebrate their heritage and Italian pride in general.

 

The Hinwil-based Italian squad put a touch of green to their usual livery to commemorate all that takes them to Monza and to show their passion and love for Italy.

 

You can read more at the link: https://www.sauber-group.com/motorsport/f1-news/alfa-romeo-racing-introduces-special-livery-for-the-italian-grand-prix/