George Russell Tops FP2 at Monza, Ferrari's Leclerc Second

George Russell silenced the Tifosi on Friday afternoon, snatching control of second practice at Monza and knocking Charles Leclerc off the top of the timesheets on Ferrari’s home turf.

The Mercedes driver, sharp from the first lap, set the benchmark on the soft tyre and then improved again, his W15 humming down the straights while the grandstands waited in vain for a red car to answer. Leclerc, quickest in FP1 and the early darling of the day, had to settle for second.

Russell leads Mercedes duel as Antonelli faces uphill fight

For a long stretch it was an in-house fight at the front. Russell and Kimi Antonelli traded purple sectors almost unopposed, the two silver cars locked in their own private qualifying session. Russell had the edge, though, both on the hard tyre in the opening phase and when the field switched to softs.

Antonelli, the championship leader but condemned to start from the back on Sunday thanks to engine penalties, never quite stitched together a clean lap once it mattered. His best effort on the softs was wrecked when he caught an Audi at Parabolica, the traffic costing him time just as the lap was coming alive.

Russell’s session wasn’t flawless either. He ended FP2 on the radio, reporting a worrying suspension vibration and urging Mercedes to investigate before Saturday. On the stopwatch, though, he was the class of the field.

Leclerc thrills, then spins, in front of home crowd

Leclerc did what he could to keep Ferrari’s day on script. After watching Mercedes dominate the early running, he bolted on softs with just over 13 minutes to go and split the two silver cars, briefly reigniting the noise around Monza.

By then, Mercedes had already transitioned to longer runs, so the headline times told only part of the story. Leclerc looked tidy, committed on the brakes, and close enough on pace to keep hope alive for qualifying.

Then came the blemish. With just under 10 minutes left, he pushed too hard into the Variante della Roggia, lost the rear and spun wildly across the kerbs. The Ferrari pirouetted in a cloud of tyre smoke before Leclerc gathered it up and carried on, his session largely intact but his lap count dented.

Norris survives scare and shadows the leaders

The other major flashpoint arrived almost immediately. Lando Norris, winner of the last two grands prix and one of the form drivers in the field, found himself bouncing across the grass at Turn 1 after trying to avoid Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. It could have ended in a heavy collision; instead, Norris escaped with nothing more than a fright and a ruined lap.

Once he reset, the McLaren man delivered again. He ended the session fourth, ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri and, crucially, still looking like a threat over one lap and in race trim.

The final 10 minutes offered a glimpse of Sunday. Norris and Piastri ran nose-to-tail for an extended spell, their pace closely matched as McLaren appeared to simulate race conditions. Norris had the upper hand, but only just.

Lewis Hamilton split the McLarens in fifth, unable to quite match Leclerc’s single-lap speed despite running in a similar performance window to the Ferrari earlier in the day. Strategy, fuel loads and run plans cloud the true picture, yet the raw times suggest Mercedes and Ferrari are finely poised behind Russell.

Lindblad shines as Haas gamble on upgrades

Behind the established frontrunners, Arvid Lindblad delivered one of the standout performances of the afternoon. The Racing Bulls driver spent much of the first half of FP2 inside the top three and eventually ended an impressive seventh, leading the midfield and outpacing Ollie Bearman.

Bearman, eighth, carried the latest Ferrari power unit for Haas, the team having only one upgraded engine available this weekend. Esteban Ocon, just 18th, has been prioritised for other updates in recent rounds, leaving Bearman as Haas’s spearhead at Monza.

The new engine comes alongside an aero package the team hopes will finally arrest a miserable run of form. Six grands prix without a point have left Haas searching for answers; Friday’s times at least hinted at a possible way out.

Verstappen fumes through troubled first session

Max Verstappen’s Monza weekend effectively began in FP2, with Ayumu Iwasa having driven his Red Bull in FP1. It started badly and never really settled.

Almost from the out-lap, Verstappen’s radio crackled with frustration. He complained of a “total lack of downforce”, prompting a front wing change. That didn’t fix it. He then reported no grip in the slow corners, then brake issues, and later said the car was “jumping” on the front axle, describing a bouncing sensation that shredded his confidence.

The three-time champion could do no better than ninth, behind Bearman and only just ahead of the second Racing Bulls of Yuki Tsunoda, who again deputised for Liam Lawson. Lawson, in turn, continues to stand in for the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull and finished 12th.

Between them sat Franco Colapinto, who took 11th and the honour of best Alpine. The Argentine has the team’s latest upgrade package on his car for the first time this weekend and promptly outpaced his team-mate in FP2.

His session almost ended in the barriers. Late on, Colapinto ran wide at the exit of Ascari, dipped into the gravel and fought the car back onto the tarmac, inches away from a heavy impact. It was a reminder that Monza still punishes the slightest misstep.

Russell, though, avoided any such drama on his way to the top of the times. On a day when Ferrari’s script called for a red car at the head of the field, it was silver that set the standard. Now the question is simple: can anyone stop him when it really counts?