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Italian GP FP2: Vettel fastest in F1 session delayed by Ericsson crash

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in Friday's second free practice for the Italian Grand Prix after Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson survived a high-speed crash

Ericsson's shunt happened just two minutes into the session at the start of his first flying lap, with his Sauber car snapping left when he hit the brakes on the high-speed approach to Turn 1 after the DRS failed to close.

This pitched Ericsson's car head on into the barriers, with the car then launched into a series of rolls while spinning down the track.

The car came to rest the right way up and Ericsson was able to get out before being taken to the medical centre and then returning to the Sauber garage after being given the all-clear.

The accident triggered a lengthy red flag for the wreckage to be cleared up and the barrier to be repaired, eventually resuming after a 20-minute delay.

With the session effectively reduced to 68 minutes, Ferrari soon took control up front with Vettel setting a time of 1m21.716s on supersofts to head soft-shod team-mate Kimi Raikkonen by 0.157s.

Lewis Hamilton was two-tenths off the pace at this stage on softs, which included on off track-moment when he cut the second chicane.

When drivers switched onto their qualifying simulations, all were able to complete multiple laps on supersofts.

While Vettel was forced to abandon his first lap after running wide at the Parabolica, team-mate Kimi Raikkonen hit the front with a lap of 1m21.375s.

Vettel then improved on his third push lap to go second, then on his fourth attempt he posted a 1m21.105s to seal top spot - 0.270s faster than Raikkonen.

But his attempt to squeeze one more fast lap out came to nothing when the rear stepped out on entry to the Parabolica, sending him spinning through the gravel.

Vettel kept the car out of the barrier and was able to return to the pits - returning to the track with 12 minutes remaining.

Hamilton was third fastest, just 0.017s behind Raikkonen, with Valtteri Bottas a further four tenths back.

Red Bull pairing Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were fifth and sixth, once again not in touch with the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers.

The Racing Point Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez were best of the rest, with the former lapping 1.825s off the pace and just 0.012s quicker than his team-mate.

Charles Leclerc claimed ninth place with his late qualifying simulation run after his session was delayed by similar DRS problems to those suffered by Ericsson.

Leclerc went out twice after the restart to conduct DRS tests but returned to the pits after the rear wing did not shut, but the system did work successfully in the closing stages of the session.

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg closed out the top 10, one-tenth behind Leclerc, with Haas driver Romain Grosjean 11th and just 0.014s slower.

Carlos Sainz Jr and Kevin Magnussen followed in 12th and 13th respectively, with Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly completing the top 14.

McLaren had another difficult session, with Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne slowest of those to set a time, the Spaniard lapping 2.636s off the pace.

FP2 times

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m21.105s - 27
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m21.375s 0.270s 31
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m21.392s 0.287s 31
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m21.803s 0.698s 35
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m22.154s 1.049s 28
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m22.296s 1.191s 28
7 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m22.930s 1.825s 30
8 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m22.942s 1.837s 32
9 Charles Leclerc Sauber/Ferrari 1m22.965s 1.860s 20
10 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m23.063s 1.958s 30
11 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m23.077s 1.972s 31
12 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1m23.193s 2.088s 32
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m23.233s 2.128s 28
14 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 1m23.402s 2.297s 34
15 Sergey Sirotkin Williams/Mercedes 1m23.514s 2.409s 28
16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso/Honda 1m23.531s 2.426s 16
17 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m23.566s 2.461s 29
18 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Renault 1m23.741s 2.636s 23
19 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Renault 1m24.084s 2.979s 30
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari - - 2


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