Italy – Free Practice 2: Leclerc and Hamilton Duel Between the Raindrops

Bottas, Sainz, Gasly, and Kubica are the first to hit the track as soon as the green light is on. The drivers couldn’t do much running this morning due to rain and a wet track. They will logically make up for the lost time this afternoon as long as the rain doesn’t return to the track. The forecasts are indeed unfavorable. A margin of 30 to 45 minutes seems to be ahead of the drivers before a downpour.

After 5 minutes, it’s Hamilton who has the fastest lap on the track at 1:22.450. Only 58 thousandths ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. The English driver is warned that Leclerc is faster than him on the straights but slower in the corners.

Traditionally, Free Practice 2 is used to simulate long race stints. This afternoon’s times should therefore reflect the level we can expect in the race on Sunday. However, the weather conditions are expected to be different. It is currently 25°C on the track and 19°C in the air, and the track seems dry enough to push.

After 15 minutes, the leading driver is still Hamilton. The medium tire stints (yellow) are quite short, 9-10 laps. Bottas is second, 73 thousandths behind his teammate, and Vettel is 3rd, 3 tenths behind. Verstappen follows ahead of Leclerc, Hülkenberg, Sainz, Albon, Perez, and Ricciardo who complete the top 10.

After 20 minutes, Lando Norris is still not out of the pits. The McLaren has an oil leak problem as light rain makes its return.

However, the drivers take more risks, and the Ferraris equip soft tires (red), gaining 1 second per lap. Leclerc takes the lead with a time of 1:20.978, almost 1 second ahead of Hamilton on medium tires. Vettel then takes 2nd place, 0.2 seconds behind his teammate. Verstappen on soft tires is 0.3 seconds behind Leclerc, while Albon, his new teammate, is 0.6 seconds behind.

The rain reappeared on the track at 3:30 PM after only 30 minutes of practice, prompting all the drivers on the track to return to the pits to wait for the shower to end. The race management took the opportunity to stop the session with a red flag to clean turns 4 and 5 of the gravel that dotted the tarmac.

There are 45 minutes left when the green flag is waved. The leading teams have already tested the soft tires and are therefore focusing on the medium and hard tires, with the exception of Vettel and Bottas. A 15-lap stint on mediums for Hamilton, 14 laps on hards for Leclerc, 16 laps on softs for Bottas. Notable is a 19-lap stint for Grosjean on mediums.

There were very few driver errors this time. A few straight-aheads at the end of the straight, and a few wide runs into the gravel, but no major incidents to report.

Leclerc’s Ferrari once again finishes on top of the free practice sessions today, followed by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel. Bottas is 4th ahead of the two Red Bulls. Gasly is 7th, 0.4 seconds behind the Red Bull and ahead of Grosjean, Ricciardo, and Kvyat.

Lando Norris completed only 16 laps and finished ahead of the two Williams cars of Kubica and Russell.

Results of Free Practice 2 of the 2019 Italian Grand Prix:

From our special correspondent in Italy.