George Russell Dominates FP2 at Monza for Italian Grand Prix
George Russell silenced the Tifosi at Monza on Friday afternoon, beating Charles Leclerc to the top of the timesheets in second practice for the Italian Grand Prix and underlining Mercedes’ early authority over the weekend.
Leclerc had lit up FP1 in front of Ferrari’s home crowd and looked ready to repeat the trick, but when it mattered in FP2 it was the silver cars – not the red ones – that dictated the pace.
Russell on top, Antonelli on the back foot
From the opening laps, the two Mercedes drivers turned FP2 into their own private duel. Russell looked sharp from the first run on hard tyres, consistently edging championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who already knows he will start from the back on Sunday thanks to engine-change penalties.
Once the soft tyres came out, Russell tightened his grip. He strung together two strong qualifying-style laps to secure P1, helped by Antonelli losing time when he caught an Audi at Parabolica on his first serious push lap. Even so, Russell ended the session with a concern of his own, reporting a suspicious suspension vibration and urging the team to investigate before Saturday.
Antonelli, despite the grid penalty looming, still showed enough speed to underline Mercedes’ threat over a single lap. His long-run data, though, may end up being more important than any headline time.
Ferrari’s hope and Leclerc’s scare
Ferrari’s day never quite matched the mood in the grandstands. Leclerc, buoyed by his FP1 benchmark, waited until the final third of FP2 to unleash his soft-tyre effort. When he did, he split the Mercedes and briefly raised the volume around Monza.
That was as good as it got.
With just under 10 minutes left, Leclerc suffered a huge spin at the Variante della Roggia chicane, the rear stepping out violently as he attacked the kerbs. He escaped without damage, but the moment was a jolt in what had otherwise been a clean, controlled session for most of the field.
Ferrari still look in the mix on pace, yet Russell’s time and Mercedes’ consistency will not have gone unnoticed in the home garage.
Norris survives scare, McLaren play the long game
The most alarming incident of the session came almost immediately. Lando Norris, winner of the last two grands prix and one of the form drivers of the season, was forced onto the grass at Turn 1 as he tried to avoid Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. It looked ugly for a split-second but ended with nothing worse than a ruined lap and a few frayed nerves.
Once settled, Norris got back to work and ended FP2 in fourth, again with a clear edge over McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. The final 10 minutes offered a glimpse of Sunday: the pair ran nose-to-tail for an extended spell, apparently simulating race conditions, braking points, and DRS effects.
Between them sat Lewis Hamilton in fifth. The Mercedes driver couldn’t quite live with Leclerc’s best lap despite running in a similar performance window earlier in the day, though fuel loads and run plans cloud the true picture. Even so, the raw times suggest Mercedes may be a step ahead of Ferrari on outright pace for now.
Lindblad leads the midfield, Haas gamble on upgrades
Behind the frontrunners, Arvid Lindblad delivered one of the standout performances of the session. The Racing Bulls driver spent much of the first half of FP2 inside the top three and eventually finished an impressive seventh, leading the midfield and beating a string of more established names.
Just behind him came Ollie Bearman, who has a crucial technical advantage this weekend. He is the only Haas driver running the upgraded Ferrari power unit, with Esteban Ocon – 18th in FP2 – having been prioritised for other upgrades in recent rounds and only one new engine available.
Haas have paired that power unit with a fresh aero package as they search for a way out of a miserable run: six consecutive grands prix without a point. Bearman’s top-10 appearance won’t fix that on its own, but it offers at least a hint that the direction might finally be right.
Verstappen’s frustration boils over
Max Verstappen’s afternoon never settled into any kind of rhythm. Having sat out FP1 while Ayumu Iwasa took over his car, the reigning champion arrived in FP2 already a step behind on track time. What followed did nothing to improve his mood.
First came complaints of “no downforce”, prompting a front wing change. Then he reported a lack of grip in the slow corners. Then brake issues. Later still he said the car was “jumping” on the front axle, describing a bouncing that left him visibly uncomfortable.
He ended the session only ninth, behind Bearman and just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the second Racing Bulls entry. Tsunoda, making a second straight appearance in place of Liam Lawson – who is himself standing in for the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull – kept his run tidy to complete the top 10.
Lawson, back in the senior team car, finished 12th, one place behind Franco Colapinto, who produced an eye-catching run in the upgraded Alpine.
Colapinto flirts with disaster
Colapinto has the latest Alpine update on his car for the first time this weekend and immediately made it count in FP2, outpacing his team-mate and sneaking into 11th. His session nearly ended in the barriers, though, when he slid into the gravel on the exit of Ascari late on. Somehow he gathered it up and kept the car out of the wall.
It was a reminder that at Monza, the margins remain razor-thin – and on Friday, George Russell was the one walking that line better than anyone else. The question now is whether Mercedes can turn practice authority into something more tangible when the real fight begins.
