Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari 1-2 during a second practice session for the Italian Grand Prix that was shortened by Marcus Ericsson’s terrifying aerial accident.
Dry conditions greeted the field for the afternoon running after torrential rain in the morning led to only Intermediates and Wets being used for the first session.
The afternoon action was only two minutes old when Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber speared sideways into the barriers under braking for the Rettifilo Chicane.
Ericsson’s initial heavy impact was followed by a series of barrel rolls and somersaults, though the Sauber driver was able to extricate himself from the wreckage and was given the all-clear after a trip to the Medical Centre.
TV replays suggested that Ericsson’s DRS failed to re-attach and team-mate Charles Leclerc also noted problems with the device, limiting his running.
The length of the red-flag period in effect reduced the session time from 90 to 70 minutes, at the end of which pre-event favourite Vettel emerged on top.
It was nonetheless far from a clean session for Vettel as a mistake put paid to an early run and he made another error by spinning into Parabolica, making light contact with the barriers, though was able to return to the pits.
Between those errors Vettel vaulted clear of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen by recording a time of 1:21.105, as drivers fitted Pirelli’s Supersoft tyres for qualifying simulations.
Vettel’s lap left him 0.270s clear of Raikkonen, who had reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton for close company, just 0.017s behind.
Valtteri Bottas was a further half second adrift in a lonely fourth, while Red Bull took a quiet fifth and sixth, Max Verstappen in front of Daniel Ricciardo.
The reborn Force India squad built on its Belgium form as Esteban Ocon and FP1 pacesetter Sergio Perez finished seventh and eighth respectively.
Once the apparent DRS issue was resolved Leclerc was able to classify ninth, his best lap coming later than his rivals, while Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
Haas duo Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen took 11th and 13th respectively, sandwiching Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jr., while Toro Rosso pair Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley were 14th and 16th, split by Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin.
Lance Stroll was 17th, while McLaren’s dismal form continued as Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were the slowest of the 19 drivers who recorded a lap time.
Alonso’s best effort was 1.6s slower than fellow Renault-powered driver Verstappen, while Honda-equipped Gasly was four-tenths faster than the Spaniard.
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