Hamilton tops the timesheets in tight FP2 session at Monza, as Magnussen incident triggers red flags
Lewis Hamilton led the second practice session at Monza with a blistering lap time, ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. In a closely contested session, Hamilton edged out Lando Norris by just three thousandths of a second, while the top five drivers were all within one-tenth and a half of each other. The session saw a brief interruption due to a crash involving Kevin Magnussen.
The session began at 1700 local time with high activity on the track, though George Russell was conspicuously absent initially due to work on his Mercedes following a crash by Kimi Antonelli during FP1. Most drivers started on the medium compound, except Daniel Ricciardo, who opted for the softs. Charles Leclerc led early with a 1:21.119, putting him 0.145 seconds ahead of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
As the session transitioned to qualifying simulations, both Russell and Sergio Perez joined the fray. Perez's participation came after a precautionary gearbox change. Lando Norris temporarily held the fastest time before Hamilton topped the leaderboard with a lap of 1:20.738, even while reporting over the radio that his seat was getting hot.
The session was paused halfway through when Magnussen crashed into the barriers at the second Lesmo, drawing red flags. The Danish driver emerged unharmed, but his crash compounded a challenging day for Haas, which had already been fined for impeding during FP1. A 12-minute pause followed, after which a lengthy queue formed in the pit lane as the action resumed.
Once back on, drivers shifted focus to long runs. Hamilton's quick lap remained unbeaten, securing P1. Norris claimed P2, Sainz P3, and the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri came in P4. Leclerc rounded out the top five, only 0.154 seconds behind Hamilton.
Russell finished sixth after his last-minute qualifying simulation, while Nico Hulkenberg provided a morale boost for Haas with the seventh-fastest time. Ricciardo, in eighth, was followed by the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in ninth and tenth, respectively.
Valtteri Bottas continued his strong form from FP1, finishing P11. Magnussen ended up in P12 despite his earlier incident. Alex Albon took P13 for Williams, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez only managing to secure 14th and 15th for Red Bull.
Yuki Tsunoda finished 16th, while Franco Colapinto concluded his first day as a Williams driver in 17th. The Alpine drivers, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, came in 18th and 19th, with Zhou Guanyu finishing at the rear for Kick Sauber.
All eyes will now focus on the data analysis as teams and drivers prepare for the final practice session on Saturday.
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