Verstappen TOPPLED as Hamilton complains about Mercedes in Monza FP2

Birthday celebrations were in order for Carlos Sainz, as he knocked Max Verstappen off the top spot on the timesheets during FP2 at Ferrari's home race in Monza.

Verstappen was not able to fend off his competition, despite finishing first in FP1, with Lando Norris, Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri also finishing above the championship leader.

Charles Leclerc looked promising in the session but ultimately finished P6, ahead of Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg who rounded off the top ten.

READ MORE: F1 Results Today: Italian Grand Prix practice times – Ferrari flying at Monza

Early Problems

An early red flag came out after Lance Stroll's car grinded to a halt at the edge of the track, due to a fuel system issue.

He communicated over the team radio that he had 'completely lost power,' raising concerns that this setback could impact his qualifying session. This came after Felipe Drugovich had taken over his seat for FP1.

Despite efforts to address the issue, it was ultimately confirmed that the problem was beyond repair for the current practice session.

After the restart, Piastri also encountered problems after he accused Lewis Hamilton of impeding him on a flying lap.

As each car on the track started encountering traffic, they found themselves in a tight cluster, with all drivers being reluctant to provide a slipstream to the others.

Promising signs for Ferrari

At Ferrari's home race in Monza, both drivers will be eager to deliver strong performances. The session already showed promising signs, with both drivers demonstrating their dominance in each sector during the early parts of the session.

Both Ferraris consistently held top positions throughout the majority of the session, with Sainz leading the timesheets when there were 20 minutes left.

However, Lando Norris and Verstappen continued to close in, keeping the competition fierce.

The Italian team managed to maintain their lead position, providing them with optimism and a strong chance of securing pole position in the upcoming qualifying session on Saturday.

Mixed emotions for Red Bull

The Red Bull team focused on practicing their slipstream strategies, which proved effective as Perez briefly managed to claim the top spot in the second half of the session.

After facing traffic in the middle sector, Verstappen rose to third. Despite his race engineers advising him to pit, he insisted on making another attempt, prompting a stubborn response of: "It is not qualifying, Max."

Another red flag interrupted the session, as despite Perez initially holding a position ahead of Verstappen, he unfortunately spun into the gravel and collided with the wall, bringing an early end to his time on track.

Verstappen was not able to continue his dominance in FP2, giving both Red Bull something to ponder this evening.

More Mercedes Problems

Hamilton voiced his concern over the team radio regarding the straight-line speed of his car, making a comparison to his teammate George Russell's performance. He even expressed a preference to pit rather than complete the lap.

The seven-time world champion remained at the bottom of the timesheets for the majority of the session, eventually finishing P17.

His teammate Russell had a better session securing P9, but the team still hope to improve them results for Saturdays sessions.

Italian Grand Prix FP2 practice results - Friday September 1

1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): 1:21.355sec

2. Lando Norris (McLaren): +0.019s

3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull): +0.185s

4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +0.190s

5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull): +0.276s

6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +0.361s

7. Alex Albon (Williams): +0.624s

8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): +0.716s

9. George Russell (Mercedes): +0.821s

10. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas): +0.936s

11. Kevin Magnussen (Haas): +1.219s

12. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo): +1.240s

13. Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +1.296s

14. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri): +1.341s

15. Esteban Ocon (Alpine): +1.361s

16. Logan Sargeant (Williams): +1.400s

17. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): +1.428s

18. Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri): +1.812s

19. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo): +1.991s

20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): No time

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