Graining was the main factor during race simulations at the end of FP2.
Great tyre management by Hamilton, Ferrari is fast but suffers from degradation.
The second free practice session at the Monza circuit has just concluded, and it’s time to analyze the race pace of all 10 teams: in the previous weekend at Zandvoort, Lando Norris was dominant from Friday, eventually taking the victory with over 22 seconds ahead of home favorite Max Verstappen.
However, the Monza circuit is certainly less suited to McLaren’s characteristics compared to Zandvoort, so we can definitely expect smaller gaps.
The session was halted right in the middle due to an incident involving Kevin Magnussen, who lost control of his Haas at the entrance to the second Lesmo corner. While this did not affect the qualifying simulation, as most drivers managed to complete their laps, it certainly impacted the race simulation, since the session resumed only 19 minutes before the end.
Another factor not to be overlooked is the resurfacing of the circuit carried out in recent months: according to Mario Isola in an interview with Sky Sport, the temperatures are high, which will lead to more graining. Consequently, a single-stop strategy is not guaranteed to be straightforward.
Race Pace Analysis FP2 Monza: here are this afternoon’s times
Graining was definitely the main factor in this free practice session: in fact, all drivers, after about 6 or 7 laps, started to see their times increase, except for Lewis Hamilton, who deserves a special mention. Therefore, we have limited indicative data from this race simulation, but one thing is certain: tire management will definitely be a crucial factor.
The most consistent driver seems to be Max Verstappen, who also experienced some degradation starting from the ninth lap but still managed to complete his race simulation with a time of 1:26.729. On the other hand, it’s difficult to interpret the race simulation of his main rival in the championship, Lando Norris: the winner of the last race at Zandvoort completed his simulation in traffic with Hulkenberg and Ricciardo, which notably affected his times, especially in the early stages.
As for Ferrari, Charles Leclerc’s race simulation started off very well, with a time of 1:24.604, which was over a second faster than Verstappen and Norris. However, this affected his tire management, as his times increased by over a second starting from the seventh lap. On the other hand, Carlos Sainz’s race pace in the other Ferrari was similar to that of Verstappen and Norris, although graining also appeared around the sixth lap.
Race Pace Analysis FP2 Monza: long run times (Part 1)
However, the most significant race simulation was probably Lewis Hamilton’s. Unlike the other drivers, he opted for a slower tire warm-up to enhance durability. In fact, he was the only driver to consistently set lower times, ultimately finishing the session with laps in the 1:24 range. This was certainly very indicative, as Mercedes had been the team that suffered the most from tire degradation at Zandvoort.
On the other hand, George Russell’s race simulation is not to be considered. The British driver started his session almost immediately after the red flag, due to the necessary repairs on his car following Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s incident during the first free practice session.
Race Pace Analysis FP2 Monza: long run times (Part 2)
PHOTO: F1, Scuderia Ferrari HP, GPKingdom.
