F1 practice LIVE: Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz goes fastest in second practice at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza

A day that started with composed tranquillity as the Formula 1 paddock marked their respect to Queen Elizabeth II ended with hope and optimism among the Tifosi fanbase, devoted to team Ferrari at Monza’s centenary weekend.

After Charles Leclerc went quickest in first practice for the Scuderia, themselves celebrating their 75^th anniversary with flashes of yellow sprinkled over their scarlet red car under the scorching Italian sun, his team-mate Carlos Sainz was top of the timesheets in practice two a few hours later.

Hope should spring eternal then for the Ferrari faithful travelling in their thousands to Lombardy this weekend, right? Unfortunately for the second time in two weeks, it’s slightly more complicated than that. After seven drivers took penalties in Spa-Francorchamps a fortnight ago, currently six will do so on Sunday due to exceeding power unit and gearbox limits – and Sainz is among those dropping to the back of the grid.

Joining him is Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsuonda, while the Red Bull pairing of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez take a five-place and 10-place hit respectively. Valtteri Bottas will also drop 15 places.

The door, you feel then, is very much ajar for Ferrari’s main man Leclerc to repeat his Monza success of three years ago. Yet with seven races left of a 2022 season which has glided away from Ferrari, the man he trails by 109 points in the World Championship is still the favourite.

After all, world champion Verstappen won from 14^th on the grid at a canter in Belgium, taking the lead in lap 12 and never looking back. And while Monza is vastly different to the longest track on the calendar in Spa, it is the quickest and Red Bull’s straight-line speed throughout this season and this new breed of cars has outpowered all around them.

That’s it for FP2 as Carlos Sainz goes fastest in second practice at Monza - Ferrari leading the way in friday practice after Charles Leclerc went quickest earlier today.

Max Verstappen was second, 0.143 seconds off Sainz, with Leclerc 0.193 seconds behind his team-mate.

Lando Norris, George Russell, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton complete the top-seven and are all within a second of Sainz - promising ahead of qualifying tomorrow!

Carlos Sainz has gone quickest for Ferrari, with a time 0.143 seconds quicker than Max Verstappen’s.

Charles Leclerc is third while Lando Norris - only 16th in FP1 - is fourth on the timesheets currently.

5-10: Russell, Perez, Hamilton, Ocon, Alonso, Albon.

Will that order change at all in the closing stages?

Schumacher’s car has been cleared from the track and the rest of the field are back out on track with 24 minutes left to run on Friday.

Can anyone beat Verstappen’s time at the top of the leaderboard?

2-10: Leclerc, Norris, Sainz, Hamilton, Alonso, Albon, Perez, Ricciardo, Zhou.

The session is stopped with half-an-hour gone as Mick Schumacher pulls up on the side of the track.

“I think I’ve seized the engine” says the German over team radio, with his engineer at Haas telling him to stop the car.

A reminder that the clock keeps ticking in practice - so hopefully it won’t be too long until the cars are back out on track...

Max Verstappen is quickest out of all the early runners... but not by much! His time of 1:22:303 is just 0.004 seconds quicker than Charles Leclerc’s time, with Carlos Sainz a tenth of a second further off.

Valtteri Bottas is a surprise name in fourth in his Alfa Romeo, with Perez 5th, Tsunoda 6th, Hamilton 7th and Russell 8th.

Charles Leclerc led the way in first practice earlier today - who will come out on top in the second practice session of the Italian Grand Prix weekend?

Sebastian Vettel will be back out on track after he stepped away from the car in FP1 for Nyck de Vries and Mick Schumacher will be back in the cockpit after Antonio Giovinazzi replaced him in FP1.

The session will take place in baking sunshine here at Monza!

Sir Lewis Hamilton has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II as a “symbol of hope” and “truly like no other” following the death of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch.

Seven-time Formula One world champion Hamilton was knighted for services to motorsports in the 2021 New Year’s Honours List, and is preparing for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, which will go ahead on Sunday as planned. A minute’s silence is set to take place before practice on Friday and another is expected ahead of the race.

In a post on Instagram, Hamilton wrote: “How do you find the words to describe the loss of Her Majesty The Queen? She was truly an iconic leader, an inspiration and a reassuring presence for most, if not all, of our lives.

“Since the sad news yesterday, I’ve been reflecting on her incredible life. She was a symbol of hope for so many and she served her country with dignity, dedication and kindness. She was truly like no other and I’m grateful to have lived during her time. Her legacy will be long-lasting and her passing deeply felt.”

Just as quickly as the door opened at Zandvoort for Lewis Hamilton to clinch his first win of the season – and extend his year-on-year Grand Prix victory record – a Max Verstappen surge on quick softs slammed it shut. Now with seven races to go, Hamilton will already be looking to Singapore in three weeks’ time despite his arrival in Italy this weekend.

The seven-time world champion will take an engine penalty, demoting a Mercedes excruciatingly short on raw speed in 2022 to the back of the grid at the quickest circuit on the calendar here at Monza.

In a futile season where the Silver Arrows’ hybrid domination has been rendered a thing of the past, Hamilton’s 16-year record of winning at least one race in every season he’s competed in F1 has been pigeonholed as something to strive for in the closing months. By his fans that is, not the man himself.

“I don’t care about records,” he said in Thursday’s press conference.

“For me it’s about winning another World Championship. The feeling of winning it is so unique and special. But of course the idea that no driver in history has gone past seven, you want to try to accomplish that. I feel healthier than I’ve ever felt - I focus a lot on that. I’m feeling fit, I love what I’m doing and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.”

Charles Leclerc finished ahead of Carlos Sainz as Ferrari led the way in opening practice for the Italian Grand Prix – after Formula One observed a one-minute silence in memory of Her Majesty The Queen.

Ten minutes before the first action of the weekend in Monza, the grid’s 10 teams – six of which are based in the United Kingdom – gathered in memory of the long-serving monarch who died on Thursday.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton wore a black armband on his Mercedes overalls as he was flanked by British team-mate George Russell and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali in the pit-lane.

FIA president Mohammed ben Suleyman paid his respects alongside Domenicali in front of the silent main grandstand awash with Ferrari red at the Italian team’s home race. A giant black and white image of the Queen was displayed on the podium.

A spontaneous round of applause broke out following the one-minute silence. Another moment of reflection is planned on the grid ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Earlier on Friday, Hamilton, who was knighted last year, described the Queen as a “symbol of hope for so many”, and said “she served her country with dignity, dedication and kindness”.