Italian GP: Hamilton tops FP2 as Ferrari closes in

Hamilton went quickest with a 1:22.801 - the best time of the weekend so far - to finish less than two tenths of a second quicker than Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

Both men set their best times with supersoft tyres.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was third quickest, but this time less than half a second off the pace after having finished a second off in the morning.

Kimi Raikkonen finished in fourth as the Maranello squad emerged as Mercedes' closest challenger.

Red Bull, meanwhile, was nearly a second off Hamilton's pace, with Max Verstappen leading teammate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth and sixth.

Despite a late start due to gearbox problems, Fernando Alonso posted a promising seventh quickest time, ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the Williams.

Romain Grosjean in the Haas and Alonso's McLaren teammate Jenson Button rounded out the top 10.

While the Mercedes set the early pace in FP1, it was the Ferraris who led the way at the start of the afternoon, with Vettel starting the session with a run on soft tyres to lead with a 1:24.444.

Rosberg slotted into second with his first run on medium tyres, before Hamilton moved to the top of the times with a 1:23.732 on a new set of soft tyres.

Alonso was the last man to jump onto the track after the problems he suffered at the end of FP1, the Spaniard having to stay in the garage while his mechanics worked on the issue.

The Spaniard finally joined the action right before the half-hour mark.

After a subdued first session, Ricciardo showed some of Red Bull's pace as he moved up to second, before Vettel posted his best time until that point - 1:23.254 - with a run on supersofts.

But the Ferrari driver did not last long on top, as both Rosberg and Hamilton went for a lap on the softest rubber at the 30-minute mark, both outpacing Vettel, with the Briton leading the way on a 1:22.801, the fastest time of the weekend so far.

The Virtual Safety Car was deployed with 53 minutes to go when Esteban Ocon's Manor stopped after the Variante della Roggia, the stricken car having to be pushed off the track by the marshals.

After the VSC, Raikkonen improved with a run on supersofts, moving up to fourth place behind Vettel.

A few minutes later there were more problems for Alonso, who stopped at the end of the pitlane and reported issues with the clutch.

The McLaren driver had to be pushed back into the garage for more checks, but returned to action not long after that and the Spaniard set the sixth quickest time with a run on supersofts.

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Mercedes	40	1'22.801
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	Mercedes	42	1'22.994	0.193	0.193
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Ferrari	33	1'23.254	0.453	0.260
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Ferrari	28	1'23.427	0.626	0.173
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	TAG	25	1'23.732	0.931	0.305
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	TAG	33	1'24.003	1.202	0.271
7	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	Honda	24	1'24.259	1.458	0.256
8	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	Mercedes	41	1'24.299	1.498	0.040
9	Romain Grosjean	Haas	Ferrari	35	1'24.516	1.715	0.217
10	Jenson Button	McLaren	Honda	28	1'24.549	1.748	0.033
11	Felipe Massa	Williams	Mercedes	20	1'24.556	1.755	0.007
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	Mercedes	40	1'24.587	1.786	0.031
13	Sergio Perez	Force India	Mercedes	42	1'24.653	1.852	0.066
14	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	Ferrari	33	1'24.674	1.873	0.021
15	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	Ferrari	25	1'24.981	2.180	0.307
16	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	Mercedes	38	1'25.083	2.282	0.102
17	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	31	1'25.240	2.439	0.157
18	Esteban Ocon	Manor	Mercedes	13	1'25.275	2.474	0.035
19	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	Renault	39	1'25.555	2.754	0.280
20	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	33	1'25.614	2.813	0.059
21	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	Ferrari	31	1'25.643	2.842	0.029
22	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	Renault	45	1'25.833	3.032	0.190