Hamilton quickest again in second Italian GP practice - MotorSportsTalk

Lewis Hamilton’s impressive start to the Italian Grand Prix weekend continued in the second free practice session on Friday afternoon as he topped the timesheets for Mercedes.

Hamilton’s fastest time of 1:24.279 was enough to give him P1 by just 0.021 seconds as he edged out teammate Nico Rosberg in a tight second session.

The advantage supplied by Mercedes’ engine upgrade was once again evident for all to see as the Silver Arrows finished over seven-tenths of a second clear of the field in FP2.

Both drivers had a trouble-free session with their new power units, suggesting that tomorrow’s fight for pole position will once again be between Hamilton and Rosberg.

Sebastian Vettel finished as the best of the rest once again for Ferrari, ending the session in third with a best lap of 1:25.038. He was followed by the Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg on the timesheets, whilst Kimi Raikkonen trailed behind in sixth place.

Despite taking no part in FP1 to allow reserve driver Jolyon Palmer to get some lap time, Romain Grosjean quickly acclimatized himself to Monza in the Lotus car as he finished seventh overall. Teammate Pastor Maldonado ended the session in P8, less than two-hundredths of a second further back.

Capping off Mercedes’ domination of FP2 was the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, who finished ninth and tenth respectively. This meant that all eight of the Mercedes-powered cars on the grid finished inside the top ten in FP2, with the other two positions being taken by the Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen.

It proved to be another difficult session for Toro Rosso as both Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. struggled for pace, leaving them P14 and P15 overall. Verstappen took a trip through the gravel just as Sainz did in FP1, but managed to keep his car going and remain in the session.

The same could not be said of Red Bull, though, who had issues on its cars. A hydraulic failure on Daniel Ricciardo’s car and a gearbox issue for Daniil Kvyat limited the team’s running in FP2, leaving them towards the back of the field.

McLaren also had another session to forget as Jenson Button was forced to pit due to an “abnormality” that was spotted by the team. After changing the power units in FP1, more penalties could yet follow for McLaren ahead of the race on Sunday.

Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix is live on NBCSN and Live Extra from 8am ET on Saturday, and will be followed by the premiere of NBC Sports’ original digital series “Off The Grid” from the British Grand Prix.

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The NTT IndyCar Series will return to the Motor City for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix but with start times in a new location for 2023.

After a 30-year run on Belle Isle, the Detroit GP has moved a few miles south to the streets of downtown on a new nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit that runs along the Detroit River.

It’s the first time single-seater open-cockpit cars have raced on the streets of Detroit since a CART event on a 2.5-mile downtown layout from 1989-91. Formula One also raced in Detroit from 1982-88.

The reimagined Detroit Grand Prix also will play host to nightly concerts and bring in venders from across the region. Roger Penske predicts the new downtown locale will be bigger for Detroit than when the city played host to the 2006 Super Bowl.

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend (all times are ET):

CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX INDYCAR START TIMES

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying.

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:23 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 3:30 p.m. ET

PRACTICE: Friday, 3 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9:05 a.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 10 a.m. (Peacock Premium)

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Combined

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 1:20 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Alex Palou captured the first street course pole of his IndyCar career; click here for where everyone will begin Sunday’s race

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (170 miles) on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street course in downtown Detroit.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for the first practice.

PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation (Indy NXT: 150 seconds total, 15 seconds per). The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 0% chance of rain.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 27 drivers racing Sunday at Detroit

INDY NXT RACES: Saturday, 12:05 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 12:50 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium)

INDY NXT ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 19 drivers racing at Detroit