F1 – Mercedes on top in final practice for Italian Grand Prix

F1 – Mercedes on top in final practice for Italian Grand Prix

Sport news

The session, devoted largely to information gathering for the afternoon’s sprint qualifying and tomorrow’s race saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez lead the way early on. Perez initially set the pace on medium tyres with a lap of 1:24.870 but when championship leader Verstappen emerged 15 minutes into the session on soft tyres he quickly claimed top spot with lap time of 1:24.006 before working his way to a best time of 1:23.754.

The Red Bulls sat at the top of the order when the session was red-flagged for Sainz’s crash after 26 minutes. The Spaniard lost control of his Ferrari midway through the Ascari chicane and went hard and nose-first into the barries on the left side of the track. “I had a massive crash,” he told his team before adding: “That hurt bit but I’m OK.” The red flags were displayed and running was halted for almost 13 minutes.

A tough session for the Italian squad was made more difficult when five minutes before the end of the session Charles Leclerc radioed the Ferrari pit wall telling them that he had to stop and that he would explain when he returned to the garage. He boxed and did not take any further part in the session.

Soon after the resumption Hamilton used soft tyres to post a lap of A lap time of 1:23.246 to jump ahead of Verstappen. Bottas meanwhile moved to second place on medium tyres.

Perez, took fourth place ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, while Robert Kubica finished sixth for Alfa Romeo ahead of team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi. Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10 for Alpine.

2021 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 25 1:23.246
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 24 1:23.468 0.222
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 23 1:23.662 0.416
4 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 29 1:23.917 0.671
5 Esteban Ocon Alpine 20 1:24.263 1.017
6 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo 28 1:24.280 1.034
7 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 26 1:24.502 1.256
8 Fernando Alonso Alpine 16 1:24.539 1.293
9 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 24 1:24.654 1.408
10 Lando Norris McLaren 27 1:24.665 1.419
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 21 1:24.770 1.524
12 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 24 1:24.774 1.528
13 Nicholas Latifi Williams 23 1:24.805 1.559
14 George Russell Williams 22 1:25.083 1.837
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 32 1:25.422 2.176
16 Nikita Mazepin Haas 23 1:25.729 2.483
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 28 1:25.763 2.517
18 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 28 1:25.935 2.689
19 Mick Schumacher Haas 25 1:26.012 2.766
20 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 14 1:26.124 2.878

FIA Formula One World Championship

F1Italian Grand PrixF1SEASON 2021SportCircuit1SportFIA Formula One World ChampionshipCircuitF1SEASON 2021F1Italian Grand Prix00Saturday, September 11, 2021 – 2:36pmSaturday, September 11, 2021 – 2:36pm

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WRC – Unstoppable Rovanperä consolidates Acropolis lead

WRC – Unstoppable Rovanperä consolidates Acropolis lead

Sport news

Kalle Rovanperä dominated Saturday morning at Acropolis Rally Greece by completing a clean sweep of stage victories to extend his lead to almost 40sec.

Rovanperä, Ott Tänak and Sébastien Ogier were covered by 3.9sec as the field restarted. But the 20-year-old showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals over four classic speed tests in the mountains of Fthiotida, between Lamia and Itea.

After wins in Pavliani and Gravia, Rovanperä had a narrow escape near the end of Bauxites when the rear of his Yaris slid into a ditch.

“It was a huge moment,” he smiled. “I have to say we were lucky to escape and that there was nothing in the ditch. It was maybe a bit too much from the pace notes. I was pushing a bit too much. I tried to be a bit more careful after that.”

The Finn was still fastest and then won the closing Eleftherohori, stretching his advantage to 39.7sec before the respite of service.

Tänak was second fastest in the first three tests but dropped almost 20sec in Eleftherohori. The Estonian remained tight-lipped over a possible problem in his Hyundai i20, but his advantage over Ogier in third was slashed to 3.6sec.

The wily Ogier used all his experience to settle into a fast, but safe pace. With closest title rivals Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville floundering down the order after problems yesterday, the Frenchman knows a solid podium will further enhance his points lead.

Dani Sordo was almost 50sec further back in another i20. The Spaniard struggled for confidence with his i20 moving around at the rear but found himself in a lonely fourth, more than 70sec clear of Adrien Fourmaux’s Ford Fiesta.

The Frenchman nosed into a roadside barrier in Gravia but was 17.3sec clear of team-mate Gus Greensmith, who conceded a handful of seconds with a spin in Bauxites.

Eleftherohori was halted after Rovanperä finished the stage for spectator safety reasons. The following drivers will all be awarded notional times so while Evans’ return to the leaderboard is guaranteed, the Welshman’s exact position is uncertain.

Toksport’s Andreas Mikkelsen overhauled Skoda Fabia team-mate Marco Bulacia to lead FIA WRC2, with Yohan Rossel now heading FIA WRC3 in a Citroën C3 Rally2. All three were nestled around Evans in the lower reaches of the top 10.

 

World Rally Championship

Acropolis RallyWRC2021 WRC - Acropolis Rally Greece - K. Rovanperä / J. Halttunen (DPPI / Nikos Katsikis)SEASON 2021SportRallies1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2021Acropolis Rally01Saturday, September 11, 2021 – 2:08pmSaturday, September 11, 2021 – 2:08pm

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