On the air
AUTO RACING 5:55 a.m. ESPN2 — Formula One, Heineken Italian Grand Prix, practice, at Monza, Italy 8:55 a.m. ESPN2 — Formula One, Heineken Italian Grand Prix, qualifying, at Monza, Italy 12:30 p.m. NBCSN — NASCAR, Xfinity Series, Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200, qualifying, at Darlington, S.C. 2 p.m. NBCSN — NASCAR, Monster Energy Cup Series, Bojangles’ Southern 500, qualifying, at Darlington, S.C. 3:30 p.m. NBC — NASCAR, Xfinity Series, Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200, at Darlington, S.C. 7:30 p.m. NBCSN — IndyCar, Grand Prix of Portland, qualifying, at Portland, Ore. (same-day tape) COLLEGE FOOTBALL Noon ABC — Oregon St. at Ohio St. BTN — Kent St. at Illinois CBSSN — Houston at Rice ESPN — Mississippi vs. Texas Tech, at Houston ESPNU — James Madison at NC State ESPNEWS — Villanova at Temple FOX — FAU at Oklahoma FS1 — Texas vs. Maryland, at Landover, Md. FSN — Southern at TCU SEC — Coastal Carolina at South Carolina 3:30 p.m. ABC — Washington vs. Auburn, at Atlanta BTN — Appalachian St. at Penn St. CBS — West Virginia vs. Tennessee, at Charlotte, N.C. CBSSN — Washington St. at Wyoming ESPN — Austin Peay at Georgia ESPNU — Cent. Michigan at Kentucky 4 p.m. FOX — North Carolina at California SEC — E. Illinois at Arkansas 6 p.m. ESPNEWS — Boise St. at Troy 7 p.m. CBSSN — Indiana at FIU ESPN — Cincinnati at UCLA 7:30 p.m. NBC — Michigan at Notre Dame ESPNU — Stephen F. Austin at Mississippi St. SEC — Charleston Southern at Florida 8 p.m. ABC — Louisville vs. Alabama, at Orlando, Fla. FOX — Akron at Nebraska FSN — Abilene Christian at Baylor 10:30 p.m. FS1 — UTSA at Arizona St. 10:45 p.m. ESPN — BYU at Arizona 11 p.m. CBSSN — Navy at Hawaii GOLF 6:30 a.m. GOLF — European PGA Tour, Made In Denmark, third round, at Aarhus, Denmark 1 p.m. GOLF — Web.com Tour, DAP Championship, third round, at Beachwood, Ohio 3 p.m. GOLF — PGA Tour, Dell Technologies Championship, second round, at Boston 6:30 p.m. GOLF — LPGA Tour, Cambia Portland Classic, third round, at Portland, Ore. 8:30 p.m. GOLF — Champions Tour, Shaw Charity Classic, second round, at Calgary, Alberta (same-day tape) HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL 1 p.m. 1490 AM — Kingston at Goshen HORSE RACING 2:30 p.m. FS2 — Saratoga Live, Glens Falls and Saranac Stakes, at Saratoga Springs, N.Y. 5:30 p.m. NBCSN — Breeders’ Cup Challege Series, Spinaway and Woodward Stakes, at Saratoga Springs, N.Y. MLB 4 p.m. YES, FS1, 660 AM. 104.5 FM — Detroit at Yankees SNY, 710 AM, 590 AM, 93.3 FM — Mets at San Francisco 7 p.m. FS1 — Tampa Bay at Cleveland SOCCER 7:30 a.m. NBCSN — Premier League, Leicester City vs. Liverpool 9:30 a.m. FS1 — Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen vs. VfL Wolfsburg FS2 — Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Werder Bremen 10 a.m. NBCSN — Premier League, teams TBA 12:30 p.m. NBC — Premier League, Manchester City vs. Newcastle United FS2 — Bundesliga, VfB Stuttgart vs. Bayern Munich RUGBY 9 p.m. NBCSN — English Premiership, Exeter vs. Leicester (same-day tape) TENNIS 11 a.m. ESPN2 — U.S. Open, third round, at New York 7 p.m. ESPN2 — U.S. Open, third round, at New York
Ferrari teammates Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were fastest in the second practice for the Italian Grand Prix on Friday.
Their speed in the afternoon will give Ferrari further encouragement it can end an eight-year wait for a win in its home race.
Both drivers appeared relaxed and smiling afterward.
“The car is working well, and we hope to confirm that in the next few days,” Vettel said.
It was not all plain sailing for Vettel, who missed most of the first practice following a gearbox change. The German managed to complete only four laps.
Vettel also ended up spinning into the tire barrier at the Parabolica in the afternoon. The four-time world champion went back to the garage to have his car checked for damage and was able to resume the session.
“A bit of everything happened today,” Vettel said. “We didn’t run much this morning, the afternoon was better. The balance is still not perfect, but we can work for tomorrow. I don’t know the weather tomorrow but the car works.
“This morning there was a little problem with the car. I wanted to run but I had to give up. Then I lost a bit of time because I spun, I exaggerated a bit.”
Vettel was .270 seconds quicker than Raikkonen and .287 clear of Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel won the Belgian GP last weekend to trim Hamilton’s overall lead to 17 points.
“We could see that, like in Spa, we had a small gap to Ferrari on both the short and the long runs,” Hamilton said.
“My laps felt pretty good, but Ferrari was a little bit quicker. We’re all working flat out right now in every part of the team, and we have work to do tonight as well — but there are some areas where we can see deficits, so I hope we can make a little step for qualifying.
“It has been a big battle for a number of races now, and they have had a small advantage since the middle of the summer, but we are pushing as hard as we can to overcome that.”
Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson crashed spectacularly at the start of the second practice but was not seriously injured.