Rome, 5 September (LaPresse) – Lando Norris set the fastest time in the second free practice session of the Monza Grand Prix. The McLaren driver, second in the overall standings, clocked a time of 1:19.878, 83 thousandths of a second ahead of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz's Williams in third. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth behind the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri, the championship leader. Verstappen, Albon, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Russell rounded out the top ten. The track is evenly balanced, and the papaya-coloured cars remain the ones to beat. However, their rivals are close behind, and Ferrari had one of its best Fridays of the season. The dream is to repeat last year's success. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli struggled, completing only four laps, none of them on soft tyres, after previously running his car aground. A few minutes before the end of the second free practice session, Charles Leclerc also made a mistake, going wide on the gravel, cutting the Variante Ascari and doing a bit of rallying with his SF-25 in 312 T style. The Monegasque had just set his fastest run on his fourth attempt with the same set of soft tyres.