Norris Tops Tight Monza Second Practice; Leclerc, Sainz Close Behind

Lando Norris led a closely contested second practice session at the Italian Grand Prix, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both within a tenth of a second of the McLaren driver.### Why it mattersNorris is aiming to reignite his title challenge after retiring from the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend. He is currently 34 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri and needs strong performances to close the gap.### The details* Norris set the fastest time after finishing sixth in FP1, demonstrating strong pace and the best long-run performance in FP2.* The top four drivers in FP2 were separated by less than two tenths of a second, suggesting a highly competitive qualifying session.* Oscar Piastri, championship leader, finished 0.181s behind Norris. He missed FP1 as McLaren fulfilled a mandatory rookie practice requirement by running Alex Dunne.* Lewis Hamilton, who led a Ferrari one-two in FP1, was fifth, 0.192s adrift of Norris.* Max Verstappen was just 0.007s slower than Hamilton, placing sixth.* Kimi Antonelli caused an early red flag for the second consecutive Friday, losing control at Turn 7 and beaching his Mercedes.### What's nextThe tight margins in practice indicate that qualifying, set for Saturday, will be a fierce battle for pole position at Monza. Drivers will be pushing for every millisecond to gain an advantage on the grid.