Hamilton quickest from Norris as Magnussen crashes out of second practice · RaceFans

Lewis Hamilton pipped Lando Norris by three-thousandths of a second to head the field in the second practice session for the Italian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver set the fastest time with a 1’20.738 on soft tyres. The session was interrupted soon afterwards when Haas driver Kevin Magnussen spun into the barriers at the Roggia chicane.

Both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were outside the top ten in the session after struggling with the balance of their Red Bulls.

Conditions were hot for the start of the second hour of running of the day with ambient temperatures above 34C when the session started. George Russell reclaimed his Mercedes after handing it to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the opening session.

However, due to repairs needed to his car after Antonelli’s crash, Russell was grounded for the first 20 minutes of running while the Mercedes mechanics completed working on his car. Perez was also delayed early on, due to a gearbox problem on his Red Bull.

Almost the entire field opted for medium compound tyres for the start of the second session. Norris was immediately on the pace with a 1’21.605 with his first push lap, while Verstappen abandoned his first flying lap of the session after a moment of oversteer through the Lesmos.

Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari on top with a 1’21.119, before the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri headed out on soft tyres to move to the top of the order. Hamilton claimed the top spot by just 0.003s, before complaining to his team about how hot his heat was getting, a problem he encountered in the previous session, which Russell also soon discovered.

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Exactly 30 minutes into the session, Magnussen brought practice to a halt after sliding off the circuit at the second Lesmo, spearing his Haas into the tyre barrier. He was quick to climb out unharmed, but his day was now over.

With just under 20 minutes remaining, practice resumed with attention turning to high fuel, long runs. The majority of the field opted to run on medium tyres, but some, including Piastri and Carlos Sainz Jnr in the Ferrari, switched to softs after running on the mediums.

Russell was the only driver to improve his best time in the session in the later minutes, moving up to sixth on his soft tyres. But once the chequered flag flew at the top of the hour, Hamilton was still quickest by just three-thousandths of a second from Norris.

Sainz was exactly a tenth of a second off Hamilton’s best in third with Piastri splitting the two Ferraris ahead of Leclerc in fifth. Russell was sixth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo and the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.