Mercedes spoils Ferrari's Monza party as Russell tops Leclerc in FP2

After conceding the opening session to Ferrari, Mercedes returned to the top of the timesheets in the afternoon, with George Russell setting the pace in FP2 at Monza. The Briton produced a 1:22.559 to edge Charles Leclerc by just 0.120 seconds, while Kimi Antonelli underlined Mercedes’ strong showing by taking third, only 0.141s away from his teammate.

Behind the leading trio, McLaren remained firmly in the mix but could not quite match Mercedes over a single lap. Lando Norris finished fourth, 0.384s off Russell, with Lewis Hamilton slotting into fifth for Ferrari and Oscar Piastri completing the top six.

The margins behind were particularly tight, with Piastri only 0.012s behind Hamilton, while Arvid Lindblad continued a promising session for Racing Bulls by taking seventh ahead of Oliver Bearman.

Max Verstappen, meanwhile, endured a quieter session for Red Bull, finishing only ninth and 0.818s away from Russell’s benchmark after running the medium tyre for his fastest lap. Yuki Tsunoda completed the top ten, while Liam Lawson ended the session outside the top 10.

Further down the order, Aston Martin struggled for pace, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll ending the session at the bottom of the timesheets. Alonso could only manage 19th, more than two seconds away from Russell, while Stroll finished last in 22nd. The two Cadillac drivers were sandwiched between them, with Sergio Perez taking 20th ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas, as all four drivers found themselves well adrift of the leading group.

The final 20 minutes of the session were largely devoted to long runs, with Mercedes once again showing encouraging pace. The Silver Arrows consistently lapped in the high 1:25s and low 1:26s, while Ferrari appeared to be a few tenths slower on average. McLaren also struggled to match Mercedes’ consistency over the longer runs.

Leclerc also experienced a spin in the closing stages of the session, but managed to keep the car on track and get going again without any significant consequences, aside from a slightly flat-spotted tyre.