Rosberg fastest, Hamilton hit by issues

Mercedes AMG Petronas

Nico Rosberg set the quickest time during the second practice session for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix as Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was hampered by an electrical issue.

Mercedes was unable to fire up Hamilton’s W05 Hybrid for much of the session, and while they managed to repair the problem, the Brit was only able to join the action with 30 minutes of the 90 remaining.

Rosberg set a time of 1:26.225, while Hamilton’s best was 0.061s slower than his primary title rival. Hamilton was on course to improve his time but encountered the Toro Rosso of Jean-Éric Vergne at Parabolica and had to back off.

Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso gave the home fans something to cheer as they set the third and fourth fastest time respectively, with Räikkönen just over a tenth down on Rosberg and Alonso a couple of tenths back after a minor error at the Rettifilo chicane.

The three fastest runners also shared the best sector times between them, with Räikkönen on top in the first sector, Hamilton quickest in the middle and Rosberg ahead in the final sprint.

Valtteri Bottas was fifth quickest in the Williams, while Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen were split by reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel. Both McLaren drivers were near the top of the times during the running on Prime tyres, but were unable to carry across their form once the Options were fitted.

Felipe Massa ended up in ninth position, while Daniel Ricciardo, who endured engine woes in the first session, rounded out the top 10 for Red Bull.

Sergio Pérez led Force India team-mate Nico Hülkenberg, ahead of Daniil Kvyat, Esteban Gutiérrez and Vergne.

Adrian Sutil was 16^th having missed the first session, while Marussia’s Jules Bianchi edged out Pastor Maldonado and team-mate Max Chilton.

Romain Grosjean endured a horrible session as he ran off track and into gravel traps on a number of occasions, while Caterham pair Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson completed the 22 runners.