Race report

F1 Italian GP: Lando Norris tops disrupted FP2 session ahead of Charles Leclerc

Norris ends second practice at Monza's Italian GP on top, ahead of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

McLaren driver Lando Norris topped second practice at F1's Italian Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari hero Charles Leclerc.

Norris, who is looking to start clawing back a 34-point championship deficit to team-mate Oscar Piastri after a costly retirement in Zandvoort, led the early medium-tyre running from the Australian at a sunny Monza circuit.

The second practice session was interrupted by a red flag after nine minutes for an off by Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Lesmo 2. Antonelli suffered a snap of oversteer through the second right-hander and veered off into the gravel while trying to catch the slide.

The 19-year-old Italian's Mercedes was beached in the gravel trap, bringing an end to his session after just four laps, one year on from his FP1 debut accident at the same venue.

After a brief interruption to extract the Mercedes from the gravel, Red Bull's Max Verstappen took over top spot before being demoted by Williams man Carlos Sainz.

The halfway point brought the soft tyres into play, with Norris the first driver to dip below the 1m20 barrier with a 1m19.878s effort.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Luca Rossini / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Sainz was quick on softs, too, going second and splitting Norris from Piastri, while FP1 leader Lewis Hamilton also appeared to confirm Ferrari's promise this weekend.

The same couldn't initially be said for his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who reported he had "no grip at all" after the first salvo of soft-tyre runs left him in 10th. But, on his next run, Leclerc appeared to have rectified his handling ails, as he moved up to second just 0.083s behind Norris.

The order remained unchanged in the final 20 minutes as many drivers reverted to harder rubber for long run practice, although Leclerc did go for another soft-tyre run and survived a scare in the Ascari chicane, cutting the gravel trap and the grass on the right-hand side.

Verstappen was sixth in the first Red Bull – two tenths behind Norris – in what looked like a more encouraging Friday compared to last year's difficult Monza weekend for the team. Alex Albon took seventh ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, while second Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda and Mercedes' George Russell rounded out the top 10.

Zandvoort podium hero Isack Hadjar made a more low-key start this time in 11th, while – as expected – Aston Martin and especially Alpine looked on the back foot.

Third practice continues on Saturday morning at 12:30 local Italian time.

F1 Italian GP results - FP2

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	28	1'19.878		S	261.083
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	29	+0.083 1'19.961	0.083	S	260.812
3	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	30	+0.096 1'19.974	0.013	S	260.769
4	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	29	+0.181 1'20.059	0.085	S	260.492
5	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	26	+0.192 1'20.070	0.011	S	260.457
6	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	27	+0.199 1'20.077	0.007	S	260.434
7	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	28	+0.301 1'20.179	0.102	S	260.103
8	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27	Sauber	Ferrari	27	+0.363 1'20.241	0.062	S	259.902
9	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22	Red Bull	Red Bull	28	+0.391 1'20.269	0.028	S	259.811
10	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	29	+0.398 1'20.276	0.007	S	259.788
11	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	RB	Honda	24	+0.505 1'20.383	0.107	S	259.442
12	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5	Sauber	Ferrari	25	+0.597 1'20.475	0.092	S	259.146
13	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Mercedes	28	+0.650 1'20.528	0.053	S	258.975
14	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari	29	+0.729 1'20.607	0.079	S	258.721
15	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Mercedes	26	+0.767 1'20.645	0.038	S	258.600
16	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	29	+0.776 1'20.654	0.009	S	258.571
17	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	RB	Honda	25	+0.933 1'20.811	0.157	S	258.068
18	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Renault	30	+1.224 1'21.102	0.291	S	257.142
19	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	4	+1.489 1'21.367	0.265	H	256.305
20	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	Alpine	Renault	30	+1.686 1'21.564	0.197	S	255.686
View full results