Mercedes in the hot seat during FP2

Hot temperatures and a burning seat weren’t enough to stop Lewis Hamilton from stealing the fastest time of the day from Lando Norris, with the Italian Grand Prix already providing its fair share of challenges for the entire grid.

Capping off a hot Italian summer day at the iconic Temple of Speed, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza instantly came to life as the light went green on FP2.

The most popular opening choice of compound was the C4, with the medium tyre finding much more comfort on the 9°C-cooler tarmac than it did during FP1. 

Oscar Piastri was one to follow the pack, opening his final Friday session on the yellow-marked tyre.

Slotting into the top three with a time of 1:21.808s, Piastri’s first run had him in close company of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.

As time went on, however, the 23-year-old slipped down the order to P7 before making a compound switch to kick off his qualifying simulations.

Setting two instant purple sectors and one personal best, Piastri skyrocketed to the top of the order with a 1:20.858s lap, holding P1 before Norris pipped him by seven milliseconds.

Piastri marginally drifted back to P4, with his charge back into the top three hampered by a mid-session delay.

When the Haas-derivative delay had been cleared, an eager queue of cars lined up in the pitlane.

Piastri found himself securing track position from third in the queue, ready to start his long runs for the remaining 20 minutes.

Piastri was the fastest driver on the medium tyre during the final long runs, circulating the track in consistent 1:24.7s instalments.

This didn’t change his order on the final timing sheets, however, with Piastri remaining in P4 as the field completed their practice starts.

Differing from his compatriot, Daniel Ricciardo was the sole driver to start the hour on the soft compound tyre.

His choice rewarded him with a place within the top five times, with the #3 recording a 1:21.842s lap around the 5.79km circuit.

Ricciardo returned to the pits, completing one additional exploratory lap on the C5 before repeating that process on another set of soft tyres.

A short moment later, Ricciardo was back out on the Autodromo Nazionale Monza to improve his time and position on the timing sheets. 

His 1:21.300s moved him into P7, with the only odd patron above him being Nico Hulkenberg in the Ferrari-powered Haas. 

Daniel Ricciardo on track during second practice at of the Italian Grand Prix. Image: Lars Baron/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Following the interruption, Ricciardo joined the grid out on track for a trial of race simulations on the soft tyre still.

He recorded an initial lap time of 1:25.933s, nine-tenths slower than the front runners.

Ricciardo ended FP2 in eighth place, over four-tenths ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.

It was a mixed field at the top end of the order too, with the four fastest times being set by four different teams after 15 minutes of running.

Charles Leclerc had something to say about that, adhering to the Tifosi’s orders by making it a momentary Ferrari 1-2 within a matter of minutes.

McLaren soon knocked Ferrari down a peg, with Norris wedging almost three-tenths between himself and Leclerc as the qualifying simulations played out.

As for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton’s lack of a tow on an empty circuit and overheating seat left him unhappy and out of position. 

His team’s session wasn’t much better with George Russell’s session delayed due to obvious damage sustained after Kimi Antonelli’s FP1 crash, however, the seven-time world champion soon took matters into his own hands.

Hamilton found his rhythm in the session, demoting the comfortable #4 McLaren from the top spot with a 1:20.738s.

The highest medium tyre runners, both Red Bull drivers sat around nine-tenths behind the benchmark in P13 and P14 as they looked at a long-run focus that allowed Sergio Perez to test out his gearbox change.

Unfortunately, their run plan was impacted by Kevin Magnussen’s crash through the Lesmos chicane.

The Haas driver lost the rear of his car on entry to the second Lesmo, ending up with frontal damage to his VF-24 as it sat lodged in the gravel and barrier during the Red Flag.

When the session restarted with 20 minutes on the clock, mindsets had shifted into race simulations.

As a result, the standings remained the same with the top five separated by just 0.154 seconds.

That top four consisted of leader Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc.

Ready to fight it out for the coveted pole position award, the drivers will all have just one more hour of practice ahead of qualifying tomorrow.

FP3 will kick off at 8:30 PM on Saturday, followed by Qualifying at midnight.

Image: Andy Hone / LAT Images

2024 Italian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, August 30th:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, August 31st:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, September 1st:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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