Italian GP – Free Practice 2: Vettel retakes the lead

Unlike this morning, the drivers quickly set a time during this second practice session. The second session is traditionally an opportunity for the teams to prepare for Sunday’s race.

Big scare for Jaime Alguersuari at the end of the pit straight while Sébastien Buemi violently goes off the track in the Parabolica, car destroyed but the driver gets out of his car without any issues.

At Mercedes GP, activity is in full swing on Nico Rosberg’s car. The MGPW02 is completely disassembled in the team’s garage, which causes Nico Rosberg to lose a good 45 minutes of track time. The German driver is sporting a new helmet seen on Twitter and which we mentioned in the Belgian Grand Prix post-race analysis.

In the last half-hour of this session, the drivers put on soft tires, which leads to new changes in the hierarchy.

After an hour of trials, it’s Michael Schumacher who holds the best time with 1:24.347. Nico Rosberg is only 20th. But Lewis Hamilton improves with soft tires and sets a 1:24.046.

At the end of the session, it’s Sebastian Vettel who holds the best time at 1:24.010, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. At the bottom of the rankings, it seems to be going a little better for Marussia Virgin Racing.

Free Practice 2 Results of the Italian Grand Prix: Friday, September 9, 2011: