Pierre Gasly’s Alpine impressed again by finishing third from Russell, Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver complaining of braking problems with his SF-25 along with team mate Lewis Hamilton throughout the session.
The Briton, who eventually finished 11th, struggled to tame his Ferrari which included a huge oversteer moment at the first chicane on his opening flying lap, while the seven-time World Champion also found traffic numerous times.
WATCH: Colapinto opens up on his Alpine return in an exclusive F1 TV interview
His replacement at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli, also had a close call with Tsunoda on the run down the hill to Rivazza 1, claiming over the radio “that was super dangerous from the Red Bull”.
The young Italian was left in 18th, as Hadjar finished the session as top rookie in seventh despite his off ahead of Tsunoda as Albon and Sainz completed the top 10.
Ollie Bearman’s Haas finished 12th from the returning Colapinto, who also went wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen during the session on the exit of Tosa.
Alonso was the leading Aston Martin in 14th from Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto, the Kick Sauber driver having brought out the red flag in FP1, with Lance Stroll 17th. Nico Hulkenberg finished ahead of Esteban Ocon, with the Haas driver last and 1.127s off Piastri’s session best.
Teams will regroup overnight ahead of the third and final practice session on Saturday, which takes place from 1230 local time before Qualifying later in the day.
