Monza Practice 2: Mercedes again dominates with superior engine
Although the gap from the fastest Mercedes time to best-of-the-rest Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari in third came down from the morning's 1.5-second separation, to seven tenths, everyone in the paddock knows Mercedes is just toying with them at this point.
Hamilton was 0.021s up on Rosberg as both drivers turned nearly identical laps. When the car is 99.9% of the equation, the gap between drivers is usually nil. In other words any driver can be fast in the Mercedes.
Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen ended up third and sixth, split by the Mercedes-powered Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, just like in the morning but reversed.
The Ferraris were the only non-Mercedes-powered cars in the top 10, as Lotus pair Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado led Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa in seventh through 10th places.
Results
Pos | Driver | Car | Behind | Laps |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 0.000s | 27 |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 0.021s | 35 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 0.759s | 36 |
4 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 0.999s | 34 |
5 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1.046s | 43 |
6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1.101s | 39 |
7 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Mercedes | 1.218s | 41 |
8 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 1.234s | 41 |
9 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1.368s | 34 |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1.612s | 31 |
11 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1.835s | 30 |
12 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1.854s | 32 |
13 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1.943s | 27 |
14 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | 2.175s | 38 |
15 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Renault | 2.362s | 50 |
16 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 2.687s | 31 |
17 | Will Stevens | Marussia/Ferrari | 3.922s | 29 |
18 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia/Ferrari | 4.160s | 27 |
19 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 4.192s | 3 |
20 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 4.444s | 28 |