McLaren’s Lando Norris went quickest in the second practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc just eight tenths of a second off the Briton as Williams’ Carlos Sainz took P3 ahead of championship leader Oscar Piastri.
After handing his car over to McLaren test driver Alex Dunne in FP1, Oscar Piastri was one of the first on track at the start of the session and the Australian was quickly into the groove, despite reporting that one of his mirrors was cracked.
The championship leader posted a time of 1:21.212. Team-mate and title rival Lando Norris went quicker, however, and he took top spot with a time of 1:21.012. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso slotted into third place ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell with Max Verstappen in P5.
However, with nine minutes gone the red flags came out when Kimi Antonelli lost control of the other Mercedes in the second Lesmo and the local hero ended up beached in the gravel.
The session resumed after just six minutes and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, on Hard tyres, quickly jumped up to P1 with a time of 1:20.957. Verstappen set a session-best second sector time, however, and he moved ahead of Leclerc with a lap of 1:20.710, 0.247s clear of the Ferrari.
Carlos Sainz, on Medium tyres, then posted the fastest first sector to steal P1 from the Dutchman by a little over a tenth of a second. The Spaniard’s team-mate Alex Albon also rose up the timesheet, slotting into P3, three tenths off the pace despite a lurid moment in the second Lesmo that he did well to control.
Norris and Sainz then bolted on Soft tyres and the McLaren driver went top on 1:19.878, almost four tenths ahead the Williams man. Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, also on Soft tyres, briefly took P2 before Albon delivered a clean lap to take second place, 0.301s off Norris.
Sainz then returned to P2 ahead of Hamilton, Albon and Hulkenberg as Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda popped up to sixth place on his Soft tyre run.
Verstappen, however, bailed on his first Soft tyre run, complaining that his RB21 was “very jumpy”. He went for a second flyer and moved up to fourth place, two tenths of Norris. Piastri was next across the line but the Australian was only able to take his McLaren up to third, 0.181s behind team-mate Norris. That soon became fourth as Leclerc climbed to P2 just 0.083s off top spot.
With the qualifying sims complete the field moved to harder compounds and longer runs. There was a nervous moment for Leclerc in the final ten minutes when he had a lock up into the Ascari chicane and bounced through the gravel.
Norris, then, held on to top spot ahead of Leclerc, Sainz and Piastri, with Hamilton in fifth ahead of Verstappen. Albon finished in seventh place ahead of Hülkenberg and Tsunoda finished the session in ninth place, just ahead of Russell.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:19.878 28 261.083
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.961 0.083 29 260.812
3 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:19.974 0.096 30 260.769
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:20.059 0.181 29 260.492
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:20.070 0.192 26 260.457
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:20.077 0.199 27 260.434
7 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:20.179 0.301 28 260.103
8 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:20.241 0.363 27 259.902
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:20.269 0.391 28 259.811
10 George Russell Mercedes 1:20.276 0.398 29 259.788
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:20.383 0.505 24 259.442
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:20.475 0.597 25 259.146
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:20.528 0.650 28 258.975
14 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:20.607 0.729 29 258.721
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:20.645 0.767 26 258.600
16 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:20.654 0.776 29 258.571
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:20.811 0.933 25 258.068
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:21.102 1.224 30 257.142
19 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:21.367 1.489 4 256.305
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:21.564 1.686 30 255.686