Mercedes F1
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton will again be vying for pole position at the Italian Grand Prix Getty

KEY POINTS

  • Mercedes look favourites to lock out the front row in qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
  • Ferraris are ahead of the Red Bull cars in Monza with their new upgraded power units.

It was a dominant Mercedes show yet again with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg trading places for the lead in both the Friday practice sessions. The German led the way in the morning session, while his teammate was the fastest in the second session.

The Silver Arrows team look comfortable at the front and unless there is a dramatic change, they are unlikely to be challenged for a place on the front row in qualifying. The Ferraris were their closest challengers with Sebastian Vettel in third place just under half a second behind. Kimi Raikkonen, in fourth place, is two tenths behind his teammate.

The Red Bull are the third best team on the grid in Italy. Due to the power hungry nature of the track, they are slightly behind Ferrari, and could come under threat from the Force India team or Williams, who both have the Mercedes works engine in their cars.

Haas Racing also looked strong as they, like the factory Ferrari team, are running new upgraded power units and were in the top ten. The McLaren team ironed out certain issues they faced with Fernando Alonso's car during second practice to get both their drivers in the top ten. They could be battling for a place in Q3 come qualifying.

It is set to be a dry race with high track temperatures expected, and unless Ferrari make a big step up, it is going to be Mercedes locking out the front row yet again.

Where to watch live

The third free practice session begins at 10am BST, while the qualifying session starts at 1pm BST. Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports F1 HD will provide live coverage of both events in the UK. Real-time internet updates are available on the Live Timing section of the sport's official website.

Top 10 results of the second practice session from Monza, Italy:

POS.DRIVERTIMEGAP
1LEWIS HAMILTON1:22.801
2NICO ROSBERG1:22.994+0.193s
3SEBASTIAN VETTEL1:23.254+0.453s
4KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN1:23.427+0.626s
5MAX VERSTAPPEN1:23.732+0.931s
6DANIEL RICCIARDO1:24.003+1.202s
7FERNANDO ALONSO1:24.259+1.458s
8VALTTERI BOTTAS1:24.299+1.498s
9ROMAIN GROSJEAN1:24.516+1.715s
10JENSON BUTTON1:24.549+1.748s