In dry and sunny conditions at 1700 local time, all drivers took to the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in the opening minutes during a one-hour session which offered the best representation of conditions ahead of Qualifying on Saturday.

Norris moved to the top of the times on the medium tyre after the first set of runs, his 1m 16.074s already nearly half a second faster than team mate Piastri's best from the opening session on the soft compound.

Traffic proved to be a tricky affair for teams and drivers to manage around the narrow circuit from the outset, Fernando Alonso claiming "I nearly crashed" after slamming on the brakes into the opening turn as Franco Colapinto's Alpine emerged from the pits.

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Carlos Sainz became the first driver to dip below the 1m 16s barrier after 10 minutes, which moved him just ahead of Williams team mate Alex Albon, before both drivers were shuffled back a spot by Norris, who lowered the benchmark to a 1m 15.952s.

George Russell became the first driver to bolt on a set of soft tyres, the C6 rubber the softest in Pirelli's range and making its debut this weekend for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with the Mercedes driver launching to the top of the times on a 1m 15.693s approaching the 20-minute mark.

The majority of the field soon followed his lead and bolted on the red-walled tyre, Max Verstappen falling short of the Briton's best by just 0.042s and complaining of "bottoming quite hard through Turns 11 and 12", as the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda slotted into third briefly.

It was short-lived as Norris asserted himself back at the top of the times with a 1m 15.318s before Piastri lowered the benchmark to a 1m 15.293s inside the first half an hour. A second attempt for Norris to usurp his team mate was thwarted as he suffered a snap of oversteer at the final corner having set a personal best in sector one and session best in sector two.

Thereafter, the second half of the session consisted of race runs using the medium tyre before a red flag was deployed with six minutes remaining. Hadjar found the gravel on the exit of the Tamburello Chicane and, despite hitting the barrier, moved his Racing Bulls machine back to the edge of the circuit before becoming beached.

The session resumed with less than two minutes remaining, leaving Piastri to head Norris as McLaren completed a perfect Friday of running.

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.

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.