Mercedes led the second practice session at Monza, but the gap between their drivers was much closer, and their rivals weren’t as far behind.
Lewis Hamilton stayed in control, lowering the best time of the weekend to a 1’24.279 on the soft compound tyres. That was less than a tenth of a second off the pole position time he set last year, on medium compound tyres.
However team mate Nico Rosberg ended the session just 0.021s off his team mate, and set some strong times in the opening two sectors of the lap.
The top six had a familiar look from the first practice session, with Sebastian Vettel in third place ahead of the two Force Indias and the second Ferrari or Kimi Raikkonen. Ferrari’s disadvantage was not as great as it had been during the morning’s running, but Vettel was still over three-quarters of a second behind.
All eight Mercedes-powered cars featured in the top ten, while several of their rivals had a difficult session. A hydraulic problem delayed Daniel Ricciardo, who was 13th, while Daniil Kvyat had a gearbox problem and spent most of the session on the harder medium tyres, ending up at the bottom of the times.
Jenson Button, meanwhile, completed just three laps when he was told to pit due to an “abnormality” on his car.
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’24.279 | 27 | |
2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’24.300 | 0.021 | 35 |
3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’25.038 | 0.759 | 36 |
4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’25.278 | 0.999 | 34 |
5 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’25.325 | 1.046 | 43 |
6 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’25.380 | 1.101 | 39 |
7 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’25.497 | 1.218 | 41 |
8 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’25.513 | 1.234 | 41 |
9 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’25.647 | 1.368 | 34 |
10 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’25.891 | 1.612 | 31 |
11 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’26.114 | 1.835 | 30 |
12 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’26.133 | 1.854 | 32 |
13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’26.222 | 1.943 | 27 |
14 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’26.454 | 2.175 | 38 |
15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’26.641 | 2.362 | 50 |
16 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’26.966 | 2.687 | 31 |
17 | 28 | Will Stevens | Manor-Ferrari | 1’28.201 | 3.922 | 29 |
18 | 98 | Roberto Merhi | Manor-Ferrari | 1’28.439 | 4.160 | 27 |
19 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’28.471 | 4.192 | 3 |
20 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’28.723 | 4.444 | 28 |
Second practice visual gaps
Lewis Hamilton – 1’24.279
+0.021 Nico Rosberg – 1’24.300
+0.759 Sebastian Vettel – 1’25.038
+0.999 Sergio Perez – 1’25.278
+1.046 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’25.325
+1.101 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’25.380
+1.218 Romain Grosjean – 1’25.497
+1.234 Pastor Maldonado – 1’25.513
+1.368 Valtteri Bottas – 1’25.647
+1.612 Felipe Massa – 1’25.891
+1.835 Felipe Nasr – 1’26.114
+1.854 Marcus Ericsson – 1’26.133
+1.943 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’26.222
+2.175 Max Verstappen – 1’26.454
+2.362 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’26.641
+2.687 Fernando Alonso – 1’26.966
+3.922 Will Stevens – 1’28.201
+4.160 Roberto Merhi – 1’28.439
+4.444 Daniil Kvyat – 1’28.723
2015 Italian Grand Prix
- Perfect Hamilton wins Driver of the Weekend
- Little action in 2015 but Monza remains a favourite
- Mercedes investigation a “misunderstanding” – Pirelli
- 2015 Italian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Top ten pictures from the 2015 Italian Grand Prix
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
4th September 2015, 14:48
Several cuts were found in tyres after FP1 apparently.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
4th September 2015, 14:50
Oh & Bernie has told drivers & teams that they are not allowed to criticize Pirelli publicly in the future.
Albert
4th September 2015, 14:59
@gt-racer Are you serious? That is just incredible. Anything more you can share?
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
4th September 2015, 15:15
Bernie will have a separate meeting with Vettel later today where he’ll supposedly be told to say some kind words about Pirelli this weekend.
I was also told that Michelin’s bid isn’t been taken all that seriously by Bernie because he has no interest in anyone other than Pirelli supplying tyres because he feels Pirelli are not only better for the show but also because they offer better commercial terms than Michelin would.
The only reason he’s even looking at Michelin’s offer is because the FIA accepted it & therefore he is obliged to at least look at it.
Albert
4th September 2015, 15:27
@gt-racer Not really surprised by the Michelin part, Mark Hughes on Motorsport Magazine said from the very beginning that since Michelin has never been all that willing to do what he says.
The Vettel part is amazing, I didn’t see that coming. I didn’t expect him to go try to manipulate things that blatantly.
Thanks for the info, as always =)
kanan
4th September 2015, 15:30
Maybe they’ll just play backgammon.
lala
4th September 2015, 17:50
Or maybe he wants to congratulate him on his 2nd daughter!
kanan
4th September 2015, 15:16
I heard he called Vettel for a slap on the wrists? Or Sky is making up things as usual.
uan (@uan)
4th September 2015, 15:31
It’d have to be a pretty mellow slap on the wrist – Vettel is a 4x WDC and you’re not going to ruffle him and Bernie will know that.
I think if such a meeting takes place it will be more that Bernie talks mano a mano with SV and asks him to tone it down for the sport.
Speaking of which, Vettel clearly has toned it down already in his comments at the press conference – calling Pirelli professional in their approach, supporting their decision on pressures and camber, etc.
kanan
4th September 2015, 15:58
Apparently they all had a big lunch:
http://adamcooperf1.com/2015/09/04/ecclestone-urges-top-f1-drivers-to-avoid-criticism-of-pirelli/
Gigantor (@kbdavies)
4th September 2015, 14:50
I think there is some interesting gamesmanship going on between Hamilton and Rosberg. Their theoretical fastest laps comprising of ther best times in all three sectors put Rosberg ahead with a 1m23.999s – approx 0.3s faster than Hamilton’s best. Rosberg makes all of this is the first two sectors, and Hamilton makes up his time in the last sector. Interesting for qualifying.
William Jones (@williamjones)
4th September 2015, 14:58
Theoretical best laps are often a nonsense though, you can improve a sector time in such a way as to ruin the next sector, they could be taken from radically different wing setting etc
William Stuart (@williamstuart)
4th September 2015, 15:25
I doubt they would be pushing hard enough in a sector such that it would be detrimental to later sectors, it’s only P2 neither want to show their hand yet.
@HoHum (@hohum)
5th September 2015, 1:01
Slow in, fast out versus fast in ,slow out could make those vital hundredths difference in individual sectors.
Gigantor (@kbdavies)
4th September 2015, 15:39
Agreed.
Albert
4th September 2015, 14:58
There was no way this was going to end any differently. Mercedes used all their tokens, on an already vastly superior engine. This was never going to be pretty for anyone else.
johanness
4th September 2015, 16:00
Precisely why something’s got to be done about this bore-fest.
Jules Winfield (@jules-winfield)
4th September 2015, 16:28
Yes, the other teams and engine suppliers need to get their collective acts together. I don’t like Mercedes dominance, but why should they be punished for doing a better job than everyone else?
In any event, history has repeatedly shown that dominance in F1 doesn’t last forever.
harry
4th September 2015, 16:33
Sorry but Ferrari made improvements over the last 2 years and they couldn’t bring them whenever they wanted because of the limitations. If they were allowed the improvement last year, they would have been a lot more competitive and I also heard that they had to delay some of the improvements they wanted to introduce in Canada.
David BR
4th September 2015, 17:58
An engine which another 3 teams have. It’s hardly Mercedes’ fault that Williams, for example, haven’t progressed sufficiently with other design aspects to bridge the gap.
Anyhow, if Mercedes are going to dominate like Red Bull, we’re not even halfway through their reign yet. And about a 1/3 through Ferrari’s reign. Some perspective please.
Johanness
4th September 2015, 18:58
To quote another forum member:
“Oh please! Where the hell did this “Red Bull domination” come from??? Just because Vettel and Red Bull won 4 in a row doesn’t mean Red Bull utterly dominated Formula 1. It was very close racing most of the time. I mean I remember everyone saying Red Bull was at best the 3rd fastest car in 2012 for most of the time… Either most of these people commenting on web haven’t actually watched those races, or they forget all the details of past seasons.”
This applies to you.
Sven (@crammond)
4th September 2015, 20:59
I think what Johaness is hinting at can best be shown by a little thought-experiment: Substract Hamilton from Merc and add a Rosberg-clone (someone who is always finishing right beneath Rosberg), and you still have them win both championships in 2014. That´s why it is refferred to as a year of domination by a team. Now substract Vettel from Red Bull 2010-2013, add a Webber-clone, and you have them win no drivers-title at all and only one constructors-championship. Hence there was no Red-Bull-domination.
However, a domination by a team can hardly be anyone elses fault but that of their opponents.
David BR
4th September 2015, 21:50
Red Bull dominated qualification. As far as the races went, I think it’s questionable to compare Rosberg and Webber as like relative to their team mates: Rosberg is on a higher level. Ferrari and sometimes McLaren were unquestionably closer to Red Bull, but its quibbling to say Red Bull didn’t dominate for a period. Maybe not as much – but that wasn’t my point anyhow. Also: Mercedes dominance is well-earned. Whereas Red Bull’s was often questionable (hence the numerous complaints from other teams).
Sven (@crammond)
4th September 2015, 22:43
That´s just another way of saying Hamilton had less advantage on Rosberg (at least during 2014) than Vettel had on Webber and is only slowly beginning to live up to his reputation in 2015.
Complaints from other teams are not placed because of something being questionable, they are placed to try and get something out of it. Red Bull receiving more complaints was mostly due to more competitors being near and fighting them, but also due to them being a bit more vulnerable to be hit on the PR-side, having less historic strength as a brand-name.
zekeri
4th September 2015, 22:48
Rosberg is NOT on a higher level. Just because they have been close enough for the last 2 years with Hamilton, it doesn’t mean Rosberg is a better qualifier than Webber was. I’d say Hamilton was more likely to be underperforming. Not to mention the fact that Rosberg most definitely does not have the racecraft that Webber had.
dynamite
4th September 2015, 22:53
@crammond Also it was easier to find something aerodynamic to complain about. Though they also found something else on the engine side each season as well. Then again teams more often than not make formal complaints about the last race of the season if their drivers would have gained the championship as a result. McLaren in 2007, Ferrari in 2010 or 12 are some of the most recent ones. One of the biggest and loudest complaints was against Brawn in 2009.
David BR
4th September 2015, 23:35
Obviously it depends on how you want to spin it. I’d say simply that Vettel was much more in tune with the Red Bull than Webber, while Rosberg is fine with the car, the difference is really all down to their absolute talent difference. And Rosberg is not a poor driver. Nor Webber – I think he was as a great racer. However, not only was he far less consistent than Rosberg, there is also the question of internal favouritism towards Vettel – according to Webber of course.
As for the complaints against Red Bull, it’s widely accepted that they were contravening the ‘essence’ of the rules relating to flexible body parts etc. that FIA couldn’t capture in their tests. The complaints weren’t spurious as you’re implying. The same goes for a number of other issues (engine mapping etc.).
Solo (@solo)
10th September 2015, 12:06
People seem to forget that Webber was usually qualifying just behind Vettel in the same way Rosberg is and the only reason many times didn’t end up finishing behind his team mate is because the guy was back at 9th or 10th after the first corner since he seemed incapable of a good start.
No matter how dominant you say Merc is if Rosberg screwed his starts as much as Webber then he would have quit a fewer points compared to Hamilton also.
Michel S. (@hircus)
5th September 2015, 4:25
I do wonder what’s preventing other Mercedes runners from upgrading their engines at the same races that the works team does, though. How much advance notice do they get of pending upgrades?
Velocityboy (@velocityboy)
4th September 2015, 19:21
Ferrari’s dominance ended when drastic rule changes were made and Red Bull’s dominance ended when drastic rule changes were made. The same may apply to Mercedes although as long as the engine rules remain the same they are likely to remain at the top.
rudi (@rudi)
4th September 2015, 20:07
The only rule change that would truly be effective would be to put the driver back to decide things. No more radio contact with cars and drivers from start to finish, only pit signs allowed, would bring the WTC (world team championship) back to WDC (world driver championship). Protesters speak up!
Chrill
4th September 2015, 15:35
It’s very clear already that 3rd place will be either a Force India or a Ferrari. Even Sauber have hauled ahead of the Renault-powered cars this week thanks to their Ferrari engine.
kanan
4th September 2015, 15:58
What about Williams? They might be ahead of Ferrari imo.
Captain Shuntalot (@f1withmyson)
4th September 2015, 20:26
I hope the Williams team will stop letting the driver’s down with poor strategy calls and slow pit stops. I’d love to see Bottas on the podium.
zekeri
4th September 2015, 22:42
Well maybe their drivers should step it up too. Especially in quali. We pretty much know that Vettel is a better qualifier than Massa-Bottas-Raikkonen. If they had a couple of tenths, half the time they would start the races ahead of Ferrari and probably finish ahead in some of them too.
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
4th September 2015, 16:21
Force India’s race pace isn’t good enough to challenge for the podium. They were about 0,5 sec/lap slower than Ferrari on the FP2 long runs (Kimi/Soft vs Hulk/Soft).
Williams should be the biggest threat to Ferrari. Their long run pace looked good (0,2 sec on the soft and 0,3 sec on the medium slower than Ferrari) and in qualifying they’ve got more power than Ferrari. They just have to hope it’s gonna be dry tomorrow.
SauberS1 (@saubers1)
5th September 2015, 0:06
The gap is too large.