Ahead of today's second session the air temperature is 27 degrees C, while the track temperature is 41 degrees. It remains bright and sunny.
In terms of updates, McLaren has a new Front Suspension, Front Wing, Rear Wing and Beam Wing, all of which are, of course, circuit specific. The front suspension fairings have been reprofiled for improved flow conditioning in combination with the low drag configuration that will be used at this event, while on the front wing a trim has been applied in order to extend balance range in combination with the low downforce rear wing. The new, low downforce rear wing assembly has been developed, efficiently reducing both downforce and drag, suitable for high isochronal circuits, it features a reduced chord rear wing flap providing the ability to reduce drag and downforce further on the aforementioned low downforce assembly. In conjunction with the new low downforce rear wing assembly, a new, less loaded beam wing has been developed to extend the drag range of this rear wing.
Ferrari has a new Front Wing, Rear Wing and Beam Wing. The depowered front wing flap provides the required aero balance range associated to the optimum downforce level anticipated here, while the top wing and lower beam wing options are carried-over components from last year's low downforce events. Different top rear wing flap geometries and trim are available, to allow modulation.
Red Bull has a new Front Wing, Floor body, Floor fences and Floor edge. The nature of the circuit typically sees relatively low levels of rear wing necessitating a consummate change in the front wing. Shortening the chords of the 3rd and 4th elements achieves the target front wing load range. After a re-optimisation of floor surfaces, subtle changes have been made to the floor body extract more load through improved pressure distribution whilst maintaining flow stability. The floor fences are changed firstly by revisions to the floor body surfaces and then re-optimised for pressure distribution spanwise to extract more load. Finally, the floor edge is changed to be aligned with the changes to the floor body surfaces which in-turn allowed subtle re-profiling to extract locally more load.
Mercedes has a new Rear Wing, Floor Fences and Front Wing. Om the rear wing the flap tip is backed off and camber reduced to drop local downforce and drag; suitable for a high low downforce track such as Monza. In terms of the floor fences, a change in camber distribution redistributes local load and vorticity, resulting in improved onset flow to floor edge and rear floor. Finally, reduced camber drops local front wing load to enable an appropriate car balance to be achieved with the low downforce Monza rear wing.
Aston Martin has a new Rear Wing. The less aggressive rear wing flap option reduces the load generated by the wing, hence reducing drag to suit the high-speed nature of this circuit.
Haas has a new Wing Circuit. For this low-drag, low-downforce circuit, a front wing flap with slightly reduced chord length has been introduced to achieve the desired aerodynamic balance.
RB has a new Rear Wing, Floor Body, Coke/Engine Cover and Mirrors. The upper rear wing has been changed to meet the needs of the target downforce & efficiency level for Monza, while the shape of the underfloor and edge wing has been revised in order to increase the efficient load generated underneath the car. The shape of the bodywork has been revised to improve the flow quality of the air passing around and to the rear of the car, while the mirror geometry has been changed to meet the needs of the target downforce & efficiency level for this circuit.
Williams has a new Rear Wing and Front Wing. On the rear wing, the reduction in area on the upper flap element leads to lower drag and downforce, which is appropriate here. On the front wing the reduction in area on the upper flap element leads to lower drag and downforce, which is appropriate for correctly balancing the low drag rear wing options. This front wing trim may be applied irrespective of whether the team uses the rear wing trim previously described.
Franco Colapinto and Oscar Piastri are back on duty this afternoon having handed their cars over to Paul Aron and Alex Dunne.
Hamilton was quickest in the opening session, ahead of teammate Leclerc, but with the best will in the world this appeared to be a return to the days when the Ferraris would set the early pace in order to put bums on seats for the remainder of the weekend.
As ever drivers complained about a lack of grip, and there certainly were a number on incidents, not least when Hadjar caused the session to be red-flagged after running wide in Ascari and showering the track in gravel.
Norris appeared to struggle on the softs, while the Williams pair looked good, as did Antonelli, Verstappen and Alonso. That said, we know that the Mercedes does not like these warmer temperatures. However, it was a hydraulics issue that left Russell stranded on track in the final moments.
Piastri is first out, followed by Russell, Bortoleto, Colapinto and Hulkenberg.
As more drivers head out it is a mixture of hards and mediums.
The Ferraris head out together to be greeted by rapturous applause from the grandstands.
Piastri posts a benchmark 21.896, but Russell and then Bortoleto go quicker, as does Albon (21.510).
"My right mirror is cracked," reports Piastri... apart from anything else that's seven years bad luck.
Norris goes top with a 21.391 but is subsequently demoted by Verstappen's 21.277.
No sooner has Russell gone top than Piastri responds with a 21.212 and Antonelli goes fourth (21.367).
Norris reports that he has lost his right mirror... not sure how many years bad luck that equates to.
Despite not having a mirror, Norris posts a 21.012, as Hamilton runs wide after being impeded by Albon.
Oh dear, Antonelli is off at the second Lesmo, and beached.
The session is red-flagged.
Replay show the rear of the Mercedes snapped out very early. "Sorry about that," he reports.
Just before that Alonso had gone third, while a PB in S1 suggested Antonelli was about to improve.
After just a couple of minutes the session resumes and the cars flood out.
Sainz goes second with a 21.159, but Leclerc posts a 20.957 and Verstappen a 20.710.
Quickest in S1, Hamilton goes fourth with a 21.000, 0.390s off the pace.
Bortoleto has ben noted for a yellow flag infringement as Antonelli joins his engineers back in the garage.
As Sainz goes quickest in S1, Albon calls for his floor to be checked after running wide in the second Lesmo. Sainz subsequently goes top with a 20.583.
A 20.917 sees Albon, among the first to switch to softs, make it a Williams 1-3, however the Grove pair are demoted when Norris posts a 19.878.
Hulkenberg (softs) goes second with a 20.241.
Albon goes second and Bortoleto fifth, the Brazilian to be investigated after the session for that yellow flag infringement.
As more drivers switch to the red-banded rubber Hamilton goes second (20.070) and Russell sixth, as Leclerc complains that he has no grip at all.
Gasly can only manage fifteenth, while his teammate remains last.
Sainz goes second with a 19.974 as Hadjar posts a 20.751 to go thirteenth.
A 20.269 puts Tsunoda sixth, as his teammate complains that he lost the rear.
"Unbelievable, every time," says Stroll after being impeded by Albon.
Bearman improves to eleventh as attention begins to turn to Sunday.
With around 18 minutes remaining there's a brief lull with just four or five drivers on track.
As the drivers begin to head out all three compounds are in use, though in time Leclerc is the only driver to stick with the softs.
Leclerc takes a bumpy ride over the gravel and grass having locked-up on entry to Ascari.
Ferrari went off ahead of me, I had to avoid the gravel," reports Verstappen.
With just six minutes remaining, Sainz is stull running with plenty of flo-vis on his rear wing. Indeed, Piastri has it on the side of his car also.
As the session ends all 19 drivers are on track, Leclerc missing the second chicane, with Bearman following suit moments later.
Norris is quickest, ahead of Leclerc, Sainz, Piastri, Hamilton, Verstappen, Albon, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Russell.
Hadjar is eleventh, ahead of Bortoleto, Stroll, Bearman, Alonso, Ocon, Lawson, Gasly, Antonelli and Colapinto.
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