Friday, September 9, 2011

Practice Two: Vettel tops Hamilton at Italian GP

Sebastian Vettel took the lead at Monza in second practice but only be a mere 0.036s over Lewis Hamilton

The session once again saw the top six in the Championship battle it out for the top six positions. However, it always looked as if Vettel and Hamilton had the edge.

And although they were dropped when Michael Schumacher headed out for a soft tyre run, when they put the Pirelli softs on they were back in front.

Vettel topped the session with a 1:24.010 with Hamilton 0.036s behind. Schumacher was third, 0.337s off the pace.

Report: Bright sunshine and a track temperature of 41'C awaited the drivers at the start of Friday's second practice, which saw Jaime Alguersuari lead out the field for their installation laps. The Toro Rosso driver stayed out to post a 1:28.705. Others followed suit and it wasn't long before half the field had put their names on the boards.

Vitaly Petrov, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton took turns leading the way before the yellow flags came out as Sebastien Buemi crashed. The Toro Rosso driver lost control at the Parabolica, hit the barriers, causing significant front and left side damage. Jenson Button moved to the front with a 1:25.905 with Mark Webber second and Sebastian Vettel third.

In soon proved to be another tussle of the top drivers with the top six positions belonging to the top six drivers in the Championship. Vettel hit the front with a 1:25.635 while Fernando Alonso moved up to fourth ahead of Felipe Massa and Hamilton. Massa improved to second place only for Vettel to extend his advantage. Alonso then took second off his team-mate.

With the drivers focussing on long runs with heavier fuel loads, the timesheets had a break, however, there was still plenty of action as the drivers pushed hard and at times too hard on the high speed circuit. This meant they either took to the gravel or they ran over the kerbs.

Michael Schumacher was the next to hit the front with a 1:24.816, 0.046s ahead of Vettel. Sergio Perez was another on the up as he took third place ahead of Hamilton, Bruno Senna and Webber. Hamilton returned to the front, three-tenths up on Schumacher. Vettel took second and then improved to first with a 1:24.010.

The final few minutes saw Hamilton run without DRS, Nico Rosberg and Mercedes GP do a pit stop simulation, Alonso complete a pit lane time-loss test and Daniel Ricciardo venture back out.

The session ended with Vettel in the P1 slot ahead of Hamilton and Schumacher.

Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m24.010 37 laps
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.046 + 0.036 21 laps
03. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m24.347 + 0.337 39 laps
04. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m24.366 + 0.356 33 laps
05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m24.433 + 0.423 31 laps
06. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m24.468 + 0.458 32 laps
07. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.508 + 0.498 30 laps
08. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.097 + 1.087 39 laps
09. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.182 + 1.172 37 laps
10. Bruno Senna Renault 1m25.325 + 1.315 38 laps
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m25.450 + 1.440 31 laps
12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m25.496 + 1.486 39 laps
13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m25.683 + 1.673 37 laps
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.758 + 1.748 29 laps
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m26.202 + 2.192 36 laps
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m26.353 + 2.343 40 laps
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.347 + 4.337 5 laps
18. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m28.559 + 4.549 32 laps
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m28.605 + 4.595 32 laps
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.804 + 4.794 25 laps
21. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m29.162 + 5.152 34 laps
22. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m29.184 + 5.174 29 laps
23. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m29.622 + 5.612 34 laps
24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m29.841 + 5.831 7 laps

Source: Planet-F1

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