Bottas tops Hamilton, Mercedes extends domination at Monza

Monza, Sep 2 (IANS) Finnish Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas leapfrogged his British teammate Lewis Hamilton in the second free practice session ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, underscoring the Mercedes team's the one-two domination going into the race.

Bottas, 28, was the fastest in the second practice with a time of 1 minute and 21.406 seconds in his best of 25 laps on Friday, reports Efe.

Hamilton came in second spot just 0.056s off the pace, to keep Mercedes, which leads the 2017 Constructor Standings, in control of the afternoon practice. He had clocked the fastest lap in the earlier first free practice, with Bottas just slower.

Ferrari also stuck with the following two spots on the time sheet, as German Sebastian Vettel came in third place, despite giving his best, 0.140s adrift from Hamilton, but ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen from Finland.

Red Bull was the third fastest team in the afternoon practice.

The second free practice, however, gave McLaren a glimmer of hope as Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne and Spaniard Fernando Alonso came in seventh and eighth spots, compared to ninth and 15th in the morning practice.