Yuki Tsunoda has been something of a practice specialist in FIA Formula 2 in 2020 and once again he was the man to beat in the glorious sunshine at the Italian Grand Prix.
The Japanese driver has been a revelation this season and is now third in the standings after taking victory in the feature race at Spa a week ago.
His stellar performances in 2020 have earned him a test with the AlphaTauri Formula One Team later in the year as he is the main candidate for a race seat at the team from 2021 onwards.
It was a very close session, as it always is in Formula 2, as Tsunoda’s Carlin was less than a tenth ahead of Christian Lundgaard, who struggled in the Ardennes last time out, and Nikita Mazepin, the driver who Tsunoda inherited his Spa win off after the Russian was given a penalty.
Brit Dan Ticktum was taken out of the lead of the sprint race last week and will be determined to make amends at Monza, he was fourth fastest for DAMS ahead of Lundgaard’s ART teammate Marcus Armstrong who hasn’t adapted to the F2 car so far since his promotion from Formula 3.
Callum Ilott lost his championship lead at Spa after Robert Shwartzman’s dominant sprint race win and the UNI-Virtuosi driver seemed happy with sixth in practice at the track where he took his maiden F2 pole in 2019.
Shwartzman meanwhile was only twelfth in practice while his PREMA teammate Mick Schumacher ended the session seventh fastest ahead of Pedro Piquet, Luca Ghiotto and Jack Aitken.
The forty-five minute session ended early for Guilherme Samaia as his Campos stopped in a cloud of engine smoke just after the first chicane.
| Pos. | Name | Team | Lap Time |
| 1 | Yuki Tsunoda | Carlin | 1:32:169 |
| 2 | Christian Lundgaard | ART | 1:32:227 |
| 3 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | 1:32:232 |
| 4 | Dan Ticktum | DAMS | 1:32:444 |
| 5 | Marcus Armstrong | ART | 1:32:522 |
| 6 | Callum Ilott | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:32:632 |
| 7 | Mick Schumacher | PREMA | 1:32:637 |
| 8 | Pedro Piquet | Charouz | 1:32:652 |
| 9 | Luca Ghiotto | Hitech GP | 1:32:695 |
| 10 | Jack Aitken | Campos | 1:32:726 |
| 11 | Guiliano Alesi | HWA Racelab | 1:32:852 |
| 12 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA | 1:32:917 |
| 13 | Louis Delétraz | Charouz | 1:32:929 |
| 14 | Nobuharu Matsushita | MP Motorsport | 1:32:946 |
| 15 | Juri Vips | DAMS | 1:33:016 |
| 16 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1:33:030 |
| 17 | Artem Markelov | HWA Racelab | 1:33:194 |
| 18 | Roy Nissany | Trident | 1:33:230 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:33:249 |
| 20 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 1:33:465 |
| 21 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1:33:485 |
| 22 | Guilherme Samaia | Campos | 1:34:090 |
