F1 | FP2 | Italian GP | Lando Norris fastest from Leclerc and Sainz - Motorsport

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Round 16 continues as the cars take to the track for FP2 at the Italian GP.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc topped the timings during the opening practice, much to the enjoyment of the Italian crowd. Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli rounded off the top five.

Two rookies ran during FP1: Alex Dunne and Paul Aron. They returned their cars to the original owners, and Oscar Piastri and Franco Colapinto headed out on track for the first time this weekend. With Piastri now holding a 34-point lead over Norris in the championship, this weekend could help him solidify his position at the top of the table.

The start of FP2 at the Italian GP

Oscar Piastri was the first driver to head out on track, with hopes of maximising his time around the Temple of Speed. The rest of the drivers quickly followed after the McLaren driver.

The majority of the field started FP2 on medium tyres, however Antonelli, Hulkenberg, Leclerc, Bearman and Hamilton all opted for the hard tyre.

An early benchmark was set by Max Verstappen, with a time of 1:21.227. This was quickly challenged by Oscar Piastri, who took P1.

Both McLaren drivers had issues with their mirrors. Piastri’s broke early on in the session, and Norris lost his not long afterwards.

After only 10 minutes of running, Kimi Antonelli brought out the red flag. The young Italian lost the rear of his car and found his Mercedes beached at Lesmo 2. This marked the end of his running in FP2, and paused the session.

At the red flag, Norris sat in P1, followed by Piastri and Alonso.

Running resumes for FP2 at the Italian GP

Running resumed, and the cars began to head back out of the pits.

Oscar Piastri was noted for failing to follow through race director’s instructions, and will be investigated after the session. Bortoletto was also noted for a yellow-flag infringement. This was because he overtook whilst under the yellow flag. As the drivers started to get some laps in, Verstappen jumped to P1 with a time of 1:20.710.

Lesmo 2 was proving difficult for the drivers. Piastri and Bortoletto both ran wide, causing their cars to bounce over the sharp edges of the curb. Alex Albon followed suit after he experienced a big snap of oversteer, however he was able to recover quickly.

Sainz was running well and topped the timings with 35 minutes to go. His teammate Alex Albon joined him to sit in P3, showing that the two Williams drivers are looking fast around Monza this weekend.

Franco Collapinto was the first to swap onto the soft tyres and made the most out of a relatively quiet track. Meanwhile, Lando Norris battled with a snap of oversteer, which caused him to dip a tyre into the gravel. This didn’t appear to bother the Brit, who set the fastest lap so far with a time of 1:19.878. Following him were Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg

Halfway through FP2 at the Italian GP

As the session progressed, the field began to swap to the soft tyres. Championship leader Oscar Piastri struggled to keep up with his teammate and found himself 0.474 off the pace.

Towards the back of the field, both Alpine drivers appeared to be struggling to break into the top 10. Stroll attempted a flying lap but was impeded by Alex Albon, causing him to abandon his lap.

Pierre Gasly suffered some damage to his floor, which was quickly repaired by the Alpine mechanics. This allowed him to head back on the track to try and move up the grid, but he was unsuccessful. George Russell was keen to get some laps in after a hydraulics issue caused him to retire from FP1. However, he seemed to be a little off the pace, as he sat in P10.

Final laps of FP2 at the Italian GP

With only 10 minutes to go, Hamilton was on the radio complaining of the power dropping in and out of his Ferrari. However, it didn’t seem to be hindering him too much, as he sat in P5. Shortly after, his fellow Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc locked up and took a trip over the grass, luckily avoiding any major issues.

Hamilton joined the ever-growing list of drivers touching the gravel at Turn 7 as the exit of Lesmo 2 continued to prove challenging. With so many drivers running wide, there was a large amount of gravel on the track. This is going to prove a crucial corner to nail during qualifying if the drivers don’t want to risk breaking track limits.

The drivers made a final push to the line, with all of them on well-used soft tyres. Because of this, no one was able to improve their times. Leclerc locked up again, and he and Bearman both ran wide. The session finished with Lando Norris in P1, followed by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Only 1.6 seconds separated all 20 drivers.