Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, round 14 of the 2018 Formula 1 season.<doc-sep>Sebastian Vettel negotiated an eventful Friday at Monza to end second practice fastest for Ferrari ahead of the Italian Grand Prix despite missing the bulk of the opening practice followed by a spin midway through FP2. Vettel was unable to set a competitive lap time in the morning session which began in heavy rain as his car underwent an early gearbox change but bounced back in the afternoon topping the dry session with a 1m 21.105s to maintain his momentum from a dominant victory last weekend at the Belgium Grand Prix. The German driver did have his FP2 stalled by a spin at Parabolica, which saw him clip the wall with the rear wing of his Ferrari, but after a quick fix was able to return to action without any lasting issues to complete 27 laps in the session. “I thought I managed it without touching [the wall] but I had a slight touch so we broke a little bit the rear wing endplate which we had to change,” Vettel said. “I wanted to run but we had to check the car first, it was good that we got out this afternoon. I lost a bit of time with my spin but I was trying a bit too hard.” “The car was fine so at least I got out of the sandpit which was difficult as a child but nowadays I don’t want to spend much time there. I am happy that I can carry on.” Vettel is aiming to end Ferrari’s winless run at its home race in front of the Tifosi, with Fernando Alonso recording the Italian manufacturer’s last victory at Monza back in 2010, while he looks to eat into Lewis Hamilton’s 17-point lead in the Formula 1 world championship standings. Mercedes has dominated at Monza in the V6 hybrid era with four consecutive race wins but having seen Ferrari’s performance gains this year Vettel is tipped as favourite for victory this weekend.<doc-sep>Sebastian Vettel headed up a one-two finish for Ferrari in second practice for the Italian Grand Prix despite narrowly avoiding major damage to his Formula 1 car in a spin at Parabolica. Following a wet FP1 that saw Vettel’s car undergo a gearbox change, Ferrari bounced back with an impressive display through second practice in front of its loyal Tifosi fanbase. After making a mistake early in his qualifying simulation, Vettel managed to turn in a fastest time of 1m21.105s on the Supersoft tyre on his third push lap, getting a tow from another car heading onto the main straight. The lap saw Vettel finish two-tenths of a second clear of Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen at the head of the timesheets, but the German’s session took a turn for the worse after he spun off the track at Parabolica with 30 minutes remaining in the session. Having set a new fastest time in Sector 1 on his fifth push lap on the same set of Supersoft tyres, Vettel spun off the track at the final Parabolica corner, with the rear of his Ferrari car nudging the barrier as he came to rest. Vettel managed to keep his engine running and get out of the gravel before returning to the pits, where his car was found to have sustained rear wing damage. Ferrari managed to get Vettel back out in the final 10 minutes of the session after resolving the issue. Vettel’s spin came following a big crash for Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson in the opening minutes of the session at Turn 1, with the Swede’s DRS failing under braking. The crash saw Ericsson hit the barrier at high speed, causing his car to roll at least three times before coming to rest, causing a red flag stoppage. Ericsson walked away from his car unassisted before being cleared by medical staff at Monza soon after the incident. Mercedes managed to finish as the best of the rest behind Ferrari in FP2 as Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished third and fourth respectively. Hamilton managed to take advantage of a tow on his lap to finish just two-tenths of a second back from Vettel, with Bottas finishing a further four-tenths back. Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo ended the session fifth and sixth, although neither could get to within one second of Vettel’s time. Force India led the midfield pack with Esteban Ocon in seventh ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, while Charles Leclerc managed to take ninth for Sauber after the team completed a number of checks on his DRS to ensure there was no repeat of Ericsson’s incident. Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 for Renault, finishing two places ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. as Romain Grosjean split the pair for Haas. Kevin Magnussen took 13th ahead of Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, with Sergey Sirotkin finishing 15th for Williams. Brendon Hartley ended FP2 16th in the second Toro Rosso ahead of Williams’ Lance Stroll, with the McLaren duo of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne following in 18th and 19th respectively, split by three-tenths of a second. Ericsson propped up the timesheets for Sauber after failing to record a lap time before the crash on his first flying lap.<doc-sep>
Monza FP2: Vettel fastest but spins out After the wet and miserable morning, it was dry at Monza for the second free practice of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, and with it, times dropped 14 or so seconds with Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel setting the pace before pranging into the barriers. After a commanding victory on Sunday in Belgium, Ferrari appear to again have the edge, this time on home soil, as they try to win the grand prix at Monza for the first time since 2010. Early in the 90-minute session, Marcus Ericsson crashed heavily when the DRS failed on his Sauber and pitched him into the barriers and what unfolded was a very scary crash which was met by audible relief when the Swede emerged from the wreck unscathed. At the sharp end, Vettel’s best lap time of 1:21.105 was nearly three tenths up on Lewis Hamilton who was only good for third in the Mercedes who would have also noticed the impressive race pace of the Reds in race simulation mode. Sandwiched between the two world title contenders, second on the timesheets was Kimi Raikkonen a quarter second down on his Ferrari teammate. Seven-tenths shy of the top time was Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in fourth, ahead of the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in fifth and sixth respectively, albeit over a second down on the benchmark time. Force India continued their fine vein of form, relishing the high-speed venue, with Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez easily ‘Best of the Rest’ in seventh and eighth, nevertheless, the gap to the top time was a jaw-dropping 1.8 seconds. Charles Leclerc was ninth despite spending much time trying to get to the bottom of the DRS failures that also afflicted his car but without the consequences his Sauber teammate Ericsson suffered. Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten in the Renault. Apart from Ericsson who did not set a meaningful lap time before his crash, slowest of all and anchored to the bottom of the timing screens with Fernando Alonso 18th and Stoffel Vandoorne 19th, the pair over 2.5 seconds slower than the top time set by Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel.