"At the moment it’s a little bit close for my liking," claimed Norris despite topping second Monza practice

Despite leading the field in the second practice session at the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lando Norris revealed that "it's a little bit close to my liking."

Oscar Piastri sat out the opening practice at the Italian Grand Prix as he handed over his car to McLaren's junior driver Alexander Dunne.

The Irish driver gave another good account of himself, having already completed an FP1 outing in Austria.

Although Lando Norris looked to struggle in FP1, he nailed his run in the second session, finishing on top of the pile.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri found conditions trying as well and took longer to get going, but he wound up within touching distance in fourth.

Commenting on bis first day at Monza, Piastri said "It was a shorter day for me, with just the one session, but everything felt good, and I felt like I hit the ground running. Thanks to Alex for his support in FP1.

"We’ve got a few tweaks to make here and there to try and make sure we go into Qualifying as strong as possible, but I felt good on the second Soft run so I am feeling confident. I am looking forward to tomorrow.”

Having ended up sixth in FP1 before setting the benchmark time in the late afternoon session, Norris said that McLaren still needs to find some gains ahead of the qualifying session.

“At the moment it’s a little bit close for my liking, but we’re not in a bad spot. We’ve still got a few things to improve, but it’s good we’re still at the top of the timings despite that.

"t was good that we improved performance throughout the session, but the competition are still close to us. We’ll work hard overnight and see what we can do to try and take another step as we head into FP3 and Quali.”

Reflecting on the first day of competitive running at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella added: "A good start to the weekend with a productive Friday on track in Monza, despite the interruptions caused by Red Flags in both sessions.

"Alex did a good job in place of Oscar for his second FP1 of the season, completing the bulk of his programme around the delays, while collecting plenty of important data we can take into tomorrow’s practice and Qualifying. Thank you, and well done again to Alex for his smooth session and valuable contribution this weekend.

“Both Lando and Oscar also put in a number of important laps, showing decent pace as we prepare for a competitive weekend with multiple teams in contention to challenge at the front. We will make sure we continue to work hard to maximise our performance to finish this double-header strongly.”