Valtteri Bottas emerged fastest in Friday practice as Mercedes made a strong start to the Italian Grand Prix weekend.
The high speed Monza layout played into the hands of the Silver Arrows resulting in Bottas narrowly edging team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Bottas posted a 1:21.406s lap on super-soft tyres in Practice 2 to top the overall times with a 0.056s margin over Hamilton, who headed the opening 90 minute practice session.
Ferrari struggled to match Mercedes on home soil before closing the gap in the afternoon session.
Sebastian Vettel managed to log a time within 0.140s of Bottas, while the sister Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen was fourth almost three tenths slower than the four-time world champion.
Red Bull once again proved the best of the rest as Max Verstappen enjoyed a 0.3s gap over his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo to claim fifth spot.
The Milton Keynes operation is set for a challenging weekend after undertaking a range of engine component changes.
As a result, the team will take 20 and 15 place grid penalties for Ricciardo and Verstappen respectively.
McLaren showed encouraging signs with Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso seventh and eighth on the timesheets.
The increase in performance arrives following the emergence of an upgraded version of the Honda engine, which has seen both drivers incur 35 place grid penalties for power unit changes.
The top 10 was rounded out by Force India's Esteban Ocon and Williams' Felipe Massa.
The only casualty of practice was Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz who suffered an engine failure in Practice 2.
He headed into the session having already been hit with a 10 place grid drop after the team elected to change the MGU-K.
Meanwhile, Williams' Lance Stroll endured a spin at the Ascari chicane before going on to finish 15th fastest.
Result: Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix Practice 2
Position | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:21.406s | – | 25 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:21.462s | 0.056s | 24 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:21.546s | 0.140s | 33 |
4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:21.804s | 0.398s | 34 |
5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 1:22.409s | 1.003s | 34 |
6 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1:22.752s | 1.346s | 22 |
7 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren/Honda | 1:22.947s | 1.541s | 31 |
8 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1:22.968s | 1.562s | 31 |
9 | Esteban Ocon | Force India/Mercedes | 1:22.977s | 1.571s | 43 |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1:22.985s | 1.579s | 42 |
11 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1:23.150s | 1.744s | 21 |
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:23.272s | 1.866s | 14 |
13 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:23.317s | 1.911s | 34 |
14 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1:23.352s | 1.946s | 43 |
15 | Lance Stroll | Williams/Mercedes | 1:23.403s | 1.997s | 36 |
16 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1:23.567s | 2.161s | 31 |
17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1:23.650s | 2.244s | 20 |
18 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1:24.253s | 2.847s | 28 |
19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1:24.894s | 3.488s | 39 |
20 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber/Ferrari | 1:25.295s | 3.889s | 25 |
Result: Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix Practice 1
Position | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:21.537s | – | 28 |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:21.972s | 0.435s | 31 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:22.652s | 1.115s | 24 |
4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:22.689s | 1.152s | 28 |
5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1:22.742s | 1.205s | 28 |
6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 1:22.749s | 1.212s | 23 |
7 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1:23.317s | 1.780s | 36 |
8 | Esteban Ocon | Force India/Mercedes | 1:23.400s | 1.863s | 34 |
9 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren/Honda | 1:23.465s | 1.928s | 24 |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1:23.561s | 2.024s | 37 |
11 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1:23.680s | 2.143s | 22 |
12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1:23.973s | 2.436s | 22 |
13 | Lance Stroll | Williams/Mercedes | 1:23.991s | 2.454s | 30 |
14 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1:24.012s | 2.475s | 27 |
15 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1:24.015s | 2.478s | 17 |
16 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1:24.079s | 2.542s | 22 |
17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:24.542s | 3.005s | 17 |
18 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:25.166s | 3.629s | 21 |
19 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber/Ferrari | 1:25.223s | 3.686s | 26 |
20 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1:25.687s | 4.150s | 17 |