Sainz edges Norris to top Italian Grand Prix FP2, Perez crashes

Carlos Sainz Jr. edged Lando Norris to place Ferrari at the top of the timesheets in the second practice for the Italian Grand Prix with Sergio Perez crashing out of the session.

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. set the benchmark with a time of 1’21.355, beating McLaren’s Lando Norris by 0.002 seconds. For Red Bull, Perez was third fastest, but he finished his practice in the gravel after spinning off at the last corner.

As drivers returned to the Monza high-speed circuit for the second practice session of the day, the weather was bright and dry for the second hour of the afternoon session.

The majority of the cars that joined the racetrack were running on medium compound tyres, with the exception of the Red Bulls, Ferraris, and Mercedes, which ran exclusively on hard compound tyres in the opening practice.

Lance Stroll made a return to his Aston Martin keen to log laps after sitting out the first session and letting Felipe Drugovich run his car. Following a suspected fuel system issue, Stroll was forced to exit the track on his second lap of the morning practice, bringing out the red flags and ending his session.

After a brief delay, the session resumed and the drivers were able to finish the first timed laps. Max Verstappen recorded his first run on the mediums and was the fastest right away with a timing of 1’22.259.

On the soft tyres, Alexander Albon placed his Williams second fastest, a half-tenth slower than the Red Bull.

Oscar Piastri ran into Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, which had backed off, and the McLaren had to leap across the Roggia chicane. Meanwhile, Hamilton was also having trouble with his speed as he made attempts to record push laps and spent the majority of the practice way down the field.

The Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc stormed to the top of the charts, with Sainz posting a 1’21.565, nearly three tenths quicker than his teammate. Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Perez both complained about having one of their flying laps cut short by traffic, preventing either of them from going as quickly.

Sainz improved to a 1’21.355 while Norris’ second-running McLaren was just 0.019s slower than the fastest Ferrari.

With less than ten minutes left in the practice, Perez moved up to third place after a slight improvement in his time by just under two tenths. However, the Red Bull driver fell wide at Parabolica, also known as Alboreto, and landed on the outer edge of the gravel, gradually crashing into the barrier.

There were only four minutes left in the session when it resumed after the slightly damaged Red Bull was recovered. On Sainz’s 29th birthday, none of the 18 drivers who were still on the course improved upon their personal best times during the stipulated three last laps they completed.

Norris finished second for McLaren, ahead of Perez in third despite his session-ending spin.

Piastri was fourth in the sister McLaren, followed by Verstappen in fifth and Leclerc in sixth marking the second Ferrari. Albon was seventh for Williams, ahead of Fernando Alonso, George Russell and the two Haas cars of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen tenth and 11th.

Lewis Hamilton was a lowly 17th after bearing a 5mph straight-line speed disadvantage to teammate Russell following a set-up modification before FP2.

The seven-time world champion, who together with Russell had just ushsered in the weekend by signing a new contract to remain with Mercedes through the end of 2025, failed to pull off a soft tyre run.

2023 Italian Grand Prix second practice result