Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 2 Analysis. Front runners close the gap to Mercedes

Todays 2nd practice session at the 2015 Italian Grand Prix was again dominated by both Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg with the Brit beating his team mate by 2 hundredths of a second to P1. It was again a relatively quiet session with no red flags with the only real excitement coming from a few people who went through the gravel at the Ascari Chicane.

Sebastian Vettel again finished in third for the Scuderia but he was 7 tenths off Lewis Hamilton's time. In a post session interview Vettel told the media: "We can and we have to improve for tomorrow (Saturday)". Ferrari will be under huge pressure from the Italian public at there home Grand Prix this weekend and will be expected to close the gap to Mercedes. The other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen finished in 6th and again behind two very competitive Force India's.

Speaking of Force India it was again another strong session from them which proves that they have some pure pace in there car. This time there drivers switched with Hulkenberg following home Perez in 4th and 5th. The team is in a very good position to gain some strong points on Sunday and they have proved they have the quickest car in a straight line which ultimately means they won't be easy to overtake in the race. Williams and Ferrari will definitely be worried about the threat they pose.

Force India's Nico Hulkenberg is looking very good for strong points.

Lotus had a better session this time around and Romain "The Superman" Grosjean led home Pastor Maldonado in 7th and 8th. This was by far a better performance from the team than FP1. There main competitors this weekend will be Force India due to the 1 point gap they have in the constructors championship, Lotus do need to find more pace to be at Force India's level.

Williams had another typical Williams session as they again opted not to show there true pace in 9th and 10th. This time Valterri Bottas led Felipe Massa with a gap of just over 2 tenths.

Williams Valterri Bottas goes through Turn 11 of Parabolica.

Sauber had a positive session as Felipe Nasr finished 11th and Ericsson 12th, perhaps putting Sauber in with a chance for some points on Sunday.

It was a very difficult day for the Renault powered teams of Red Bull and Toro Rosso as they struggled to find pace and grip. Max Verstappen provided a heart in your mouth moment when he went through the gravel at the Ascari Chicane and came to a stop just centimeters from the barrier which would have ended his session. The Red Bull's had a really bad day in the office with Daniel Ricciardo finishing in 12th and Dany Kvyat in 20th place. Ricciardo missed a good chunk of running with a software problem that was affecting his gearbox which if damaged would promote a 5 place grid drop. Toro Rosso weren't much better with 13th and 14th, Max Verstappen getting the edge over Carlos Sainz.

Daniel Ricciardo lost valuable time with a software problem affecting the gearbox.

It was another bad day for McLaren with only 3 laps of running for Jenson Button down in 19th place. Fernando Alonso had a trouble free session in 16th with 31 laps of running under his belt.
A really good day for Manor Marussia saw Will Stevens lead Roberto Merhi home in 17th and 18th place.

Overall the strong competitors heading into Practice 3 and Qualifying are definitely Force India after finishing both Friday sessions in 4th and 5th. Can they realistically mount a fight against Vettel for the 3rd position on the grid and on Sunday? Can Lotus find more pace and repeat the great race pace they had in Spa? and can Red Bull realistically even be in the Top 10 of the grid (not counting penalties)?

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 1 Analysis, Force India strong as FP1 comes to an end.

Free Practice 1 for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix has ended with another Mercedes 1, 2 with Lewis Hamilton leading home team mate Nico Rosberg. The main point gained from FP1 is that Mercedes are completely on another level compared to Sebastian Vettel who finished 1.5 seconds off the pace in third.

The most positive session came from Force India. Nico Hulkenberg led Sergio Perez in 4th and 5th in what seems to be a true representation of pace. An interesting battle to see on Saturday will be where Williams slot in, can they leap frog Force India or will they be stuck behind them? Force India had a relatviely trouble free session with only a slight wobble when Nico Hulkenberg reported that there was a small amount of fluid in the cockpit that smelt of fuel.

Force India had a strong session finishing P4 and P5.

Kimi Raikkonen had a mediocre session in the Ferrari only managing sixth place, 5 tenths behind Vettel in 3rd place.

One of the bigger moments in FP1 was a spin that ended the session for Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso. As the Spainard jumped on the brakes going into Parabolica the rear slipped from and he slid straight into the gravel and was beached. The worst part was due to him being stuck on the outside of the track, the car couldn't be returned to the pits, therefore ending his session prematurely.
Sauber and Red Bull were both quiet during the session with the Swiss outfit finishing in 11th and 13th, whilst the Milton-Keynes unit were 7th and 12th.

Monza is the home race of Scuderia Ferrari

Williams were off the pace as they ran larger fuel loads again in practice, but by there standards had a very good sessions. The previous races they find themselves out the top 10 whereas today Massa led Bottas in 8th and 9th.

It was an odd an quiet session for Lotus as they only managed 10th and 15th. They were without there superman Romain Grosjean as Jolyon Palmer took part in his 8th FP1 session of the season.

McLaren once again found themsleves struggling finsihing in 17th and 18th with Alonso leading Jenson Button. Will Stevens also got the better of his team mate at Manor-Marussia.

Lewis Hamilton takes photos with fans before FP1

So what is going to happen in FP2? I think the team to watch is again Force India. After the strong showing in Practice 1 they'll want to back it up. But can Lotus get back on the pace and challenge the Silverstone based outfit? Will Williams challenge them or run there own agenda? and can Ferrari realistically close the gap to the Mercedes at the top?

Practice 2 commences in just under a few hours.

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Italian GP Preview: Every corner just gives you the feeling that you are doing something special - Kvyat

Its only 5 days to the Italian Grand Prix at the famous Speed Temple of Monza. A 5.79km track which it made up mainly of straights split by tight chicanes it will provide an advantage for the Mercedes powered teams.

The weekend will mark the last race of the European season and the 12th of 19th rounds of the Formula 1 season.

As the home race of Ferrari, many fans turn up and huge pressure is on the team to perform. It will be Sebastian Vettel's first race at Monza whilst racing under the prancing horse and we expect a direct fight with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton (Left) and Nico Rosberg (Right)

Teams to watch are again the Mercedes powered, so Lotus and Force India will be a very strong prospect for points in Monza as the Renault powered Red Bulls and Toro Rosso's will be fighting an uphill battle.

Lotus are coming off a strong Belgium Grand Prix as they scored there first podium of the season with Romain Grosjean finishing 3rd. It was Lotus's first podium since USA in 2013. Theoretically Monza should suit the E23 chassis more than what Spa did, so Lotus are definitely the team to watch. With reliability issues plaguing Maldonado again in Spa, Lotus will know the first key to a successful weekend is a trouble free weekend. In an interview Formula1.com Lotus's deputy team principal Fredrico Gastaldi stated “Monza is a fantastic race track. As in Spa, we have good chances to perform well in Italy with the E23 and bring back home a haul of points".

Lotus deputy Team Principal Fredrico Gastaldi.

Force India were a few steps behind Lotus in Spa in terms of experience and race craft. After a good start to the race which saw Sergio Perez into 2nd, Red Bull and Daniel Ricciardo managed to pressure Perez to the point where Force India weren't aggressive enough with strategy compared to Lotus. The team would probably have been disappointed to only finish Perez in 5th after starting 4th. Monza should hopefully give them another shot at strong points, and Team Principal Vijay Mallya Force India will definately be looking for strong points and Vijay Mallya has stated on Force India's official Facebook: “Monza is a track where we expect to be competitive. We go there aiming to get both our cars in Q3 on Saturday and in the points on Sunday – that must be our target for all the races to come.”.

Force India race driver Sergio Perez

As usual Mercedes will be strong in Monza but don't fully discount Ferrari. Even though they were off the pace in Spa, this is Monza, this is the home of Ferrari. If theres any a time that Ferrari can pull something out of the bag, its Monza.

The Italian Grand Prix begins tommorow with FP1 starting at usual European times.