Hamilton fastest in final practice
Lewis Hamilton was back on form as he comfortably topped the timesheet ahead of the Italian Grand Prix as Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg was the one left looking on.
During second practice on Friday Hamilton’s car was hit by gremlins as he spent an hour watching his mechanics cure an electrical issue.
Hamilton eventually recovered to post the second quickest time of the session behind Rosberg, although ended the day with the quickest time overall, set earlier on in FP1.
Come the final hour-long run around Monza, it was Rosberg’s turn to sit on the sidelines as Hamilton posted the best time of the weekend to date.
On the hard Pirelli tyre Hamilton set a time of one minute 25.742 seconds, which at that stage was still almost two tenths of a second quicker than Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on the quicker medium compounds.
Once Hamilton strapped the medium rubber onto his car for the closing 10 minutes, a period when all the teams assessed true qualifying pace, the Briton ultimately finished 0.412secs better than Alonso with a lap of 1min 25.519secs.
Hamilton, though, never managed to enjoy a full clean lap, suggesting there is much more to come from a car that was seven kilometres per hour faster through the speed trap than any of its rivals.
As for championship-leader Rosberg, he managed just three installation laps before a gearbox problem consigned him to the garage for the majority of the session, so finishing at the bottom without a time to his name.
Behind Hamilton and Alonso came Williams duo Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, expected to seriously challenge Mercedes this weekend, but with both almost six tenths of a second down.
McLaren’s Jenson Button continues to look strong, and is on course to potentially post one of his best grid slots of the year, with the 34-year-old fifth quickest, 0.723secs behind Hamilton.
Red Bull pair Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo were sixth and ninth, separated by two tenths of a second.
Sandwiched in between were Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat, who faces a 10-place grid penalty.
Kvyat is the first driver this season to fall foul of Formula One’s new power unit penalty regulations.
The 1.6-litre V6 turbo-charged system comprises six components, and a sixth change of any of those now results in a grid penalty.
With Toro Rosso providing Kvyat’s car with a sixth engine, so the penalty now applies.
Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was a fraction over a second down in his Force India in 10th, with McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen 11th, six tenths of a second behind team-mate Button.
Marussia’s Max Chilton was three seconds adrift in 20th.
