Mercedes dominate Monza free practice - Rosberg leads FP1 and Hamilton tops FP2
Published by Christine
It’s no surprise to see Mercedes ahead on pace at a track that is notably reliant on power units for good performance. Nico Rosberg was the fastest man for the first session, beating his teammate and then the Ferraris who were a second off the pace. Fernando Alonso had a gearbox problem during the session, whilst Felipe Massa picked up an energy recovery issue. Jenson Button, Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez all ran the halo concept device at one point or another, and Nico Hülkenberg sat out the session in favour of Friday driver Celis Jr.
In the afternoon, it was still Mercedes on top with Hamilton taking the lead, Ferrari were best of the rest with Red Bull tucked up behind them. Alonso missed the start of the afternoon running as his McLaren was undergoing repairs, and Massa had a stop-start session with his Williams, completing far fewer laps than his teammate.
Finally, Esteban Ocon stopped out on track which brought out the virtual safety car to control the traffic whilst the Manor car was recovered to the pit lane.
