Charles Leclerc tops FP2 with a 1:15.906 from the Mclaren of Oscar Piastri and the VCARB of Yuki Tsunoda.
Under the sun in Emilia Romanga, the F1 teams lined up for the second free practice session. The Tifosi’s hopes were high coming into FP2, as the Ferrari pair finishing the first session first and third. A positive reaction to their new upgrades.
Red Bull fans no doubt hoping for a better session after Verstappen struggled in FP1. The light in the pit lane went green, and the cars headed out. Other than for Williams, both cars were in the garage, floors off and being looked at.
How the session went
George Russell in the Mercedes set the first flying lap of the session with a 1:18.102 on hard tyres. However, it was short-lived as Tsunoda crossed the line on medium tyres with a 1:17.672.
The Ferrari’s quickly showed the same pace seen in FP1 with a 1:17.019 from Leclerc and Sainz 0.500 behind.
Verstappen seemed more comfortable behind the wheel of the Red Bull. Putting in the fastest lap, he broke into the 1:16s with a 1:16.930. Norris falling in behind him by 0.030 seconds.
Tsunoda showed yet another impressive lap time, 1:16.895, but the times continued to tumble. Verstappen went a tenth faster and then Leclerc went faster than him by a tenth. The cars headed into the pits for a tyre change and a refuel.
The cars with new tyres and refueled headed back out and Charles Leclerc broke the 1:16s with an impressive 1:15.969. Teammate Sainz could not match it, 0.454 off the Monegasque’s pace.
Norris was on a flying lap, the first two sectors purple, but a mistake in the last corner saw him heading into the pits. Abandoning the lap and getting ready for some long runs. We haven’t seen the extent of his qualifying pace.
Finally, the two Williams cars made it out onto track, but they still seemed to struggle in P18 and P20.
Charles Leclerc improved on his fastest lap, with a 1:15.906
This put him 0.198 ahead of Oscar Piastri with McLaren and 0.380 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the VCARB.
However, though Verstappen was doing a flying lap, it was only good enough to get him 6th, 0.451 off of Leclerc. He was complaining about grip on the radio.
With 15 minutes to go, the cars went back into the pits, with most cars swapping their soft tyres for mediums or hards. With only 10 minutes left, the drivers began their long runs.
Five minutes remained in the session when Max Verstappen took a trip through the gravel, really uncomfortable in the Red Bull.
Similarly, the Williams of Alex Albon went round the track with flow viz paint. Trying to figure out some issues they’ve encountered.
The session came to a close. Leclerc tops FP2 ahead of Piastri and Tsunoda.
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