George Russell Tops FP2 at Monza, Ferrari's Hopes Diminished
George Russell silenced the Tifosi on Friday afternoon, ripping up Ferrari’s early script to top second practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Charles Leclerc had owned FP1. By the end of FP2, he was watching a Mercedes sit above him on the timesheets.
Russell sets the standard, but ends with a scare
From the moment the second session settled, the two silver cars took control. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli traded fastest laps in the opening phase, but Russell always looked that fraction sharper, that bit more at ease on the knife-edge braking zones of Monza.
Antonelli, already condemned to start from the back on Sunday thanks to engine penalties, still pushed hard enough to underline why he leads the championship. Yet his first proper soft-tyre flyer unravelled at Parabolica when he caught an Audi at the worst possible moment, scrubbing away a lap that might have challenged Russell.
Russell didn’t waste his chance. After tidy early work on the hard tyre, he delivered on two consecutive soft-tyre runs, stamping his authority on the session. The lap time was one thing; the radio message at the end was another. He reported a worrying suspension vibration, urging Mercedes to investigate. Fast, yes. Comfortable, not entirely.
Leclerc thrills, then spins
Leclerc, buoyed by his FP1 benchmark and the roar of the Ferrari faithful, waited until the final quarter of the session to show his hand. By then, Mercedes had already switched to longer runs, but the Monegasque still managed to wedge his Ferrari between the two silver cars with a sharp soft-tyre effort.
The grandstands responded instantly. For a moment, it felt like the familiar Monza script: Ferrari chasing glory on home soil, Leclerc the standard-bearer.
Then came the mistake.
With just under 10 minutes remaining, Leclerc overstepped at Variante della Roggia. The Ferrari snapped, and he spun wildly through the chicane, a plume of tyre smoke and dust cutting across the track. He kept it out of the barriers and rejoined, yet the spin left a scar on what had been a largely clean day for the front of the grid.
Norris survives scare, McLaren play the long game
The most alarming moment of the session arrived early and almost without warning. Lando Norris, winner of the last two grands prix, found himself bouncing across the grass at Turn 1 as he tried to avoid Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. It could have been ugly. Instead, it was a narrow escape and a sharp reminder of how quickly things can go wrong at Monza’s opening chicane.
Once the dust settled, Norris did what his recent form suggested he would. He ended up fourth, again with a clear edge over McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. The final 10 minutes offered a glimpse of Sunday: the two papaya cars running in close formation, lap after lap, in what looked very much like a race simulation. No fireworks, just disciplined, data-gathering mileage.
Lewis Hamilton split the McLarens in fifth. On raw times he sat a step behind Leclerc, despite both appearing in a similar performance window in FP1. With practice, that gap can say as much about fuel loads and run plans as outright speed, but the scoreboard still showed a Ferrari ahead of one Mercedes.
Lindblad leads the midfield charge
Behind the established frontrunners, Arvid Lindblad produced one of the standout performances of the day. The Racing Bulls driver spent much of the first half of FP2 inside the top three, then closed out the session as best of the midfield in seventh.
Just behind came Ollie Bearman, another name edging into the spotlight. The Haas rookie carried the team’s upgraded Ferrari power unit, the only one available this weekend, with team-mate Esteban Ocon left on older hardware and other recent upgrades. Ocon’s 18th place underlined the split.
Haas have paired that engine step with an aero package in a bid to halt a miserable run of six consecutive grands prix without points. Bearman’s position gave them at least a hint that the new direction might be the right one.
Verstappen fights the car
Max Verstappen finally joined the weekend in FP2 after Ayumu Iwasa had taken his car in FP1, and from the first laps it was clear the reigning champion was not happy.
The radio told the story. First came complaints of a complete lack of downforce. Red Bull responded with a front wing change. Then he reported no grip in the slow-speed corners. Then brake issues. Later still, Verstappen said the car was “jumping” on the front axle, describing a bouncing that left him wrestling rather than refining.
He ended the session only ninth, tucked in behind Bearman and just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the second Racing Bulls. For a driver used to orbiting in a different performance universe, it was a jarring, scratchy afternoon.
Alpine upgrade bites, Tsunoda stays on duty
Tsunoda’s 10th place marked another solid outing in his extended run with Racing Bulls. He continues in the seat for a second straight event in place of Liam Lawson, who himself is covering for the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull.
Lawson finished 12th, just behind Franco Colapinto, who delivered Alpine’s headline of the day. Running the team’s latest upgrade package for the first time this weekend, Colapinto beat his team-mate in FP2 and flirted with disaster late on. A trip through the gravel on the exit of Ascari almost ended in a heavy impact, but he gathered it up and carried on.
It was that kind of session: fast, scruffy in places, loaded with clues but short on certainties.
Russell’s name sat at the top when the chequered flag fell, Ferrari’s hopes were nudged back a notch, and Verstappen left with a long list of problems to solve. For Monza, that’s an intriguing way to start the real weekend.
