Hamilton tops FP2 in Monza, Verstappen's flying lap cut short by red flag

The two Red Bull cars did not set competitive lap times this session. The Austrian team had problems with Sergio Perez's car, while Max Verstappen's qualifying simulation was cut short because of Kevin Magnussen, as the Dane caused a red flag. The Red Bull duo finished in P14 and P15 respectively. After, Mercedes had to repair George Russell's car following Andrea Kimi Antonelli's earlier crash, the Briton finished in P6, but showed promise on his long run.

As it happened

The top teams began the session on the mediums tyres, except for Russell, who still had wait for his car to get fixed after Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed in Parabolica 10 minutes into FP1. The Briton had to miss 22 minutes in the second session, after already sitting out FP1. After the first quicker laps on that set of tyres, Carlos Sainz led the session ahead of Lando Norris, Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The other Red Bull Racing car however was stuck in the garage in the beginning, as engineers had to work on Sergio Perez's RB20.

Turn 1 proved to be difficult for the drivers early on. Norris had to take the escape road, while Esteban Ocon (who has already spun there in FP1) and Kevin Magnussen also cut the chicane. Entering Turn 4, Leclerc almost found himself in a difficult situation, as the Monegasque driver put his Ferrari on the grass, but he could continue without any trouble.

20 minutes into the session, Leclerc was leading the session, when frontrunners including Norris and Hamilton first fit a set of soft tyres in FP2. After their first laps on these tyres, Norris was just 0.007 seconds ahead of his teammate, Piastri. Hamilton was not quicker than Leclerc's time, but the Briton blamed it on not having a tow.

After his second try, Hamilton could jump up to P1 with 30 minutes to go. Just through the halfway point, the red flag was waved for Kevin Magnussen, as the Dane crashed exiting Lesmo 2 and found himself in the barrier. Following the crash, drivers had to wait a bit more than 10 minutes in the pit lane until the session could resume.

Once the session could continue, Perez could enter the track for the first time, while the McLarens and the Mercedes returned to the medium tyres. The session finished with drivers completing long runs on mediums, only Russell had a flying lap on a set of soft tyres.