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

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.