Italy – Free Practice 2: McLaren and Hamilton Take the Lead

It’s a sunny, blue sky that awaits the drivers at Monza, with temperatures reaching 27°C in the air and 40°C on the track. Paul di Resta, Narain Karthikeyan, and Bruno Senna return to their respective seats after giving them up to third drivers during Free Practice 1.

The drivers do not linger in the pits and unleash their horses on Hard tires as soon as the session begins. Sergio Pérez is the first to set a benchmark time of 1:27.713, quickly surpassed by Kimi Räikkönen with 1:26.093 and then 1:25.934.

After several attacks from Hamilton, Massa, and even Schumacher, the Finn’s time does not hold up against Button and then Rosberg, who stops the clock at a time of 1:25.446. However, the Mercedes driver is 10 km/h slower in top speed compared to the 2009 world champion.

After being forced to change the power unit following an “engine alert” in Free Practice 1, Fernando Alonso climbed to third place in his first timed lap, behind the German and Felipe Massa: the top six drivers in the standings were then within less than a second of each other.

A few laps later, the Spaniard takes the lead on the timing sheet with a 1:25.350 as he enjoys a clear track. At Mercedes, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are encountering DRS issues, with the former being deprived of it and the latter apparently having to deactivate it manually. The seven-time world champion notably pointed out to Charlie Whiting that, in the event of a drag reduction system failure, the presence of the speed bumps outside the Roggia chicane could pose a real danger to the drivers.

On track, the Caterham drivers are the first to fit the Medium tires, the softest offered by Pirelli. After also fitting the white-sidewalled tires, Fernando Alonso does not improve his best time and specifically complains about his brakes on the radio after cutting through the first chicane.

At mid-session, the Ferrari drivers are leading, Alonso ahead of Massa. They are followed by Rosberg, Räikkönen, Button, Hamilton, Di Resta, Pérez, Schumacher, and Vettel. Despite several attempts on Medium tires by all the drivers, Jenson Button finally gets the upper hand with the softest tires, by twenty-two thousandths. Moments later, Lewis Hamilton does better with a time of 1:25.290.

After the engine and brakes, it is the gearbox of the F2012 that is causing trouble for Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard comes into the pits stuck in second gear and gets out of his car as the session seems to be over for him: it remains to be seen if this new technical issue will have any consequences on the Spanish driver’s starting grid position on Sunday.

On track, few drivers improve as everyone seems to be working on long stints, with some only using DRS in the authorized activation zones during the race. Under the checkered flag, the standings remain unchanged, with Lewis Hamilton leading Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, and Nico Rosberg. In twelfth place, Jérôme d’Ambrosio continues his acclimatization with Lotus, while at Sauber, as at Ferrari, the afternoon has been anything but restful.

Free Practice 2 Results of the 2012 Italian Grand Prix: