Lando Norris topped a tight second practice at the Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Williams’ Carlos Sainz both within one tenth of the McLaren driver.

Norris is hoping to ignite a title charge after retiring from last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix as he aims to make inroads into his 34-point deficit to championship leader Oscar Piastri.

After finishing first practice in sixth and a long way off Lewis Hamilton’s timesheet-topping lap, Norris was back on it in the second session and also had the best long-run pace.

“Normally by this point we have, like, a one-second gap on everyone but at the moment it’s just a bit close for my liking,” said Norris.

“I feel like some small things to improve and for us to still be P1, I thought was good. I thought we improved some stuff from FP1 to FP2 but just a bit close, so I just need to try and make the gap a bit bigger so we’re a little more comfortable.

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Lando Norris says if he loses the championship because of the points he lost at the Dutch GP following a DNF, he would move on and try and do better next season

“This is the complete opposite downforce level to Zandvoort where we were just easily quickest and it felt pretty amazing. Here it’s quite the opposite. Not a surprise, this is probably what we were expecting, but I definitely think we don’t perform quite to the same level in these low-downforce conditions as we do when we are at high downforce.

“The competitors catch up, it looks a bit closer and that makes our life a bit trickier. But I think we’re still in a reasonable place, some small things to improve and we’ll be a bit better.”

Chadwick: Incredibly close at top of timesheet

Sky Sports F1’s Jamie Chadwick:

“Norris bounced back well. I didn’t really know where McLaren were looking to be after FP1, but that session showed a little bit more of their true pace.

“But it’s so close. Sainz is up there in P3, it’s incredibly close, and there isn’t much between any of them. It’s encouraging for us going into tomorrow.”

It could be a huge fight for pole position in qualifying from 3pm on Saturday, live on Sky Sports F1, as the top four were separated by less than two tenths.

Piastri was 0.181s behind Norris but did miss first practice as McLaren gave Irish teenager Alex Dunne a run out in their car as part of the mandatory requirement to run a rookie in practice at least four times this season.

Ferrari continued their tradition of being competitive in Monza, even in a challenging season, with Leclerc in second and Hamilton in fifth despite both drivers having minor trips through the gravel during second practice.

Chandhok: Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull can challenge McLaren for pole

Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok:

“It certainly feels like Ferrari and Williams, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen if he can put a lap together, can challenge McLaren in qualifying.”

Hamilton, who led a Ferrari one-two in first practice, was 0.192s behind Norris with Max Verstappen another 0.007s back in sixth place.

Williams could cause a surprise as Sainz and Alex Albon were towards the top of the timesheets all day.

Antonelli caused an early red flag after beaching his Mercedes for the second Friday running as he lost control at Turn 7.

It adds to the difficult run of form for Antonelli, but Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has publicly backed the 19-year-old Italian, who is set to stay with the team for 2026 alongside George Russell.

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A week after beaching his car in the gravel in Friday practice at Zandvoort, Kimi Antonelli has done it again and brought out the red flag in FP2 at the Italian Grand Prix

“I pushed a bit too hard for the braking moment. It’s a shame. The day was looking good as I had a good FP1 and the start of FP2 was looking strong,” said Antonelli.

“The confidence is still high and we are moving in the right direction with the setup. A shame to miss some laps but I will get ready to deliver the best job tomorrow.”

McLaren reprimanded for Piastri incident

McLaren were given a reprimand for letting championship leader Piastri out of his garage too early following a red flag period.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were given one-grid place penalties earlier this year in Bahrain for the same infringement, but that took place during qualifying, rather than a practice session.

“I think we just misjudged, got confused with the messaging on the timing system and went a little bit early,” said Piastri.

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Oscar Piastri was investigated for leaving the garage too early following the Kimi Antonelli-triggered red flag

Piastri has a pattern of peaking in time for Q3 and stealing pole position which he will need to do again as Norris has the upper hand after Friday.

However, the Australian is not concerned and was “surprised” to see Williams in the mix too.

“Today has been a good day. Obviously not doing FP1, I had a bit of catching up to do in FP2, but I feel like I hit the ground running and the car felt pretty good,” he said.

“Just got the set-up maybe a little bit wrong on the soft [tyre], the second lap was pretty decent considering it was the second lap on the tyres. Feeling pretty good and just need to tweak a little bit more tomorrow and find a bit more pace, as usual.”

Italian GP Practice Two Timesheet

Driver
Team
Time

1) Lando Norris
McLaren
1:19.878

2) Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
+0.083

3) Carlos Sainz
Williams
+0.096

4) Oscar Piastri
McLaren
+0.181

5) Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
+0.192

6) Max Verstappen
Red Bull
+0.199

7) Alex Albon
Williams
+0.301

8) Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber
+0.363

9) Yuki Tsunoda
Red Bull
+0.391

10) George Russell
Mercedes
+0.398

11) Isack Hadjar
Racing Bulls
+0.505

12) Gabriel Bortoleto
Sauber
+0.597

13) Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
+0.650

13) Oliver Bearman
Haas
+0.729

15) Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
+0.767

16) Esteban Ocon
Haas
+0.776

17) Liam Lawson
Racing Bulls
+0.933

18) Pierre Gasly
Alpine
+1.224

19) Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
+1.489

20) Franco Colapinto
Alpine
+1.686

Sky Sports F1’s Italian GP Schedule

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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Italian Grand Prix

Saturday September 6
8.10am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Italian Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 11:30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Italian Grand Prix Qualifying build-up
3pm: ITALIAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday September 7
7.10am: F3 Feature Race
8.40am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Italian GP build-up
2pm: THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Italian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1’s European season concludes with the Italian Grand Prix – watch the whole Monza weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime