Charles Leclerc is very excited: the Ferrari SF-24 works, the new update package is giving the results that the men from Maranello expected and it should not be surprising if the Monegasque in the qualifying simulation arrived at 1’15″906 less half a second from the track record that has stood since 2020. The red is well balanced with little fuel, but is very nice to look at even with a full tank during the long run carried out with the mediums.
In the second free practice session of the GP of Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna Ferrari emerges: the fifth place of Carlos Sainz who did not complete the flying lap and accumulated an unusual gap of half a second from his teammate should not be surprising, while he showed good pace in the race simulation.
Ferrari is there, but they have to watch out for a very dangerous McLaren. Oscar Piastri finished 192 thousandths behind Leclerc, but Lando Norris could have done better if he hadn’t crossed slightly at the exit of the second corner of the Rivazza, preferring to return to the pits after two fuchsia sectors, rather than close the lap. The 12th place finish, therefore, should not be evaluated except tactically. The pace of the “papaya” cars is in line with that of the reds: after carrying out all the aerodynamic comparisons in the morning, Andrea Stella’s drivers were certain that the success in Miami with Lando was not a coincidence.
The surprise of the day was Yuki Tsunoda with the Racing Bulls: the Faenza team smells of home and the Japanese does not disappoint expectations with an excellent 1’16″286 which puts him ahead of the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. The W15s struggled to manage the tires and did two preparation laps at low speed, sparking a protest from the other drivers because they often found themselves in traffic, creating difficulties for their colleagues.
The Silver-Black Arrows pay four-tenths, giving the feeling that their package is not up to par with that of the competition. But if the Star doesn’t laugh, Red Bull then cries. Max Verstappen is only seventh with Red Bull, followed a tenth by Sergio Perez. The Dutchman seemed very nervous and did not hesitate to close Hamilton at Villeneuve, while the Mexican dramatically blocked Leclerc and ended up under investigation.
The world champion team without Adrian Newey seems to have lost its magic touch and, probably the absence of Giampiero Lambiase at Verstappen’s wall has taken something away from the preparation of the RB20: the three-time world champion is in serious difficulty balancing the lap from qualifying, but also in the long run he suffered a long gap at Rivazza which testifies to the great difficulties at the front after the introduction of the new wing and the revised floor. Tomorrow the Milton Keynes team will put everything back in order, but it is not certain that they will be able to re-enter the challenge between Ferrari and Mercedes.
Nico Hulkenberg’s performance was sensational in ninth place with Haas ahead of Fernando Alonso who was not very comfortable with Aston Martin’s new package: the greenback was supposed to get close to the top teams and, instead, is struggling to stay in the top 10 And after all, Lance Stroll didn’t go beyond 13th place, despite being close to the Spaniard’s performance.
Daniel Ricciardo is 11th with Racing Bull: the Australian’s performance could be acceptable, if it weren’t for Tsunoda who climbed to third place. Daniel is experiencing a very difficult moment because he makes a great contribution to the growth of the Faenza team, but he is unable to finalize the work which is capitalized by Yuki.
The two Alpines with lightened cars are approaching the center of the group: Esteban Ocon is 14th followed by Pierre Gasly. The two French riders are gritting their teeth to get back on top and the arrival of David Sanchez at the wall could make a positive contribution.
Valtteri Bottas is 16th with Sauber, while Guanyu Zhou is only 19th ahead of a quitting Logan Sargeant with Williams who suffered a problem as soon as he entered the track. He returned to the track shortly after his teammate Alexander Albon, whose power unit was replaced after the problem that stopped him in FP1. The Anglo-Thailandese lost about twenty minutes before the FW44 was completed to restart.
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