George Russell finished at the front of the second practice session of the Italian Grand Prix, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli. Ferrari had dominated FP1 with a 1-2, while McLaren came under scrutiny after a near-crash between Lando Norris and Lance Stroll.
The first day of activity at the Italian Grand Prix left an open picture at Monza. After an FP1 dominated by Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at the front, Mercedes responded in the second session and ended Friday with George Russell as the fastest driver. The Briton set 1:22.559 to beat Leclerc and his teammate Kimi Antonelli, in a day in which the differences between the main protagonists were again small.
The FP2 result, however, is not enough on its own to determine a definitive hierarchy. Russell finished first, Leclerc second and Antonelli third, while Lando Norris took fourth position and Lewis Hamilton closed the top five. The activity was marked by long runs and a large number of laps completed by the drivers, something fundamental for the teams to understand tire behavior and, especially, the particular energy management that Monza demands with the 2026 regulations.
Battery management continues to be one of the great challenges of the weekend. The Italian track has long straights and few heavy braking opportunities to recover energy, forcing teams to find a delicate balance between electrical deployment and top speed. Williams' own technical analysis noted that Monza presents one of the highest sensitivities of the season in terms of energy, with particularly limited recovery opportunities.
That characteristic also explains why qualifying laps and slipstreams can play a determining role on Saturday. At Monza, being too far ahead can mean losing a significant part of the advantage offered by the slipstream, while being stuck behind another car can compromise the lap. During practice, there were also moments when numerous drivers coincided on track, making traffic once again one of the circuit's usual problems.
FP1 had left an even more favorable picture for Ferrari. Leclerc set 1:23.008 and Hamilton was second 0.173 seconds behind, while Russell was third. The striking thing was that the Monegasque achieved his best time on medium tires, when several of his rivals had already resorted to the soft compound for their qualifying simulations.
Ferrari, in addition, arrives at its home race with an evolved power unit and a package specifically designed for Monza's characteristics. Straight line speed will be fundamental throughout the weekend and the performance shown in the first session fueled the Tifosi's expectations. Mercedes, on the other hand, ended up striking back in FP2 and made it clear that the fight for first position will not be exclusive to Maranello.
For Kimi Antonelli, third place in the afternoon has particular value. The Italian faces his home Grand Prix as championship leader, but will have to start from the back of the grid on Sunday due to the penalty derived from the power unit change. His performance during practice thus takes on a different reading, more than looking for a starting position, Mercedes needs to verify that the car's pace allows the championship leader to recover positions during the race. Antonelli arrives at Monza with six wins in 2026 and a 59 point advantage over Russell.
McLaren, meanwhile, failed to reproduce in FP2 the dominance that Lando Norris showed in his last two victories. The world champion finished fourth in the second practice, while Oscar Piastri was eleventh. The Woking team had arrived in Italy after Norris's consecutive wins in Hungary and Zandvoort, but Monza represents a different challenge due to its demands for top speed, aerodynamic efficiency and energy management.
Norris, precisely, starred in one of the most delicate moments of the session. The McLaren found itself at high speed with Lance Stroll in an area of the track where the Aston Martin got in its path. The Briton had to make an evasive maneuver to avoid contact that could have ended much more seriously. The incident was noted by the stewards and will be analyzed after practice to determine if any penalty applies.
It was another reminder of one of the problems that accompanied the drivers throughout Friday, the number of cars circulating simultaneously. With Monza's straights and the need to prepare fast laps, finding clean space remains a complicated task. The situation could be even more important on Saturday, when qualifying begins to define who gets the best place to face a race where overtaking is possible, but where trains of cars can condition strategies.
Leclerc also had his own scare during FP2. The Ferrari driver did a 180 degree spin, although he managed to correct the car and stay within track limits. The maneuver had no consequences and he was able to continue with his program, but it once again demonstrated how delicate it can be to find the limit on a circuit where cars travel at very high speeds.
The external context was also very present during Friday. The resolution of the FIA International Court of Appeal on the Monaco Grand Prix ended up returning third place to Isack Hadjar and again applying the two five second penalties to Pierre Gasly, who dropped from third to seventh. McLaren and Red Bull had appealed the decision that had originally removed the sanctions.
The resolution also led to a strong confrontation during the team principals' press conference. Flavio Briatore questioned the independence of one of the judges who participated in the appeal and pointed to alleged links with McLaren. Andrea Stella responded harshly, calling the accusations offensive to McLaren's reputation and defending the integrity of the International Court of Appeal's process.
In the midst of that tension, Stella also put on the table three issues he considers necessary to review in the future: the conditions for accepting a Right of Review, the consistency of the measurement methods used in Formula 1 and the conditions in which the stewards work. Thus, the Monaco case did not end with the resolution, it left open a debate that will continue during the Italian weekend.
Meanwhile, the teams are already beginning to look towards Sunday. Technical forecasts place the probability of a Safety Car appearance at 40%, while the possibility of a Virtual Safety Car is around 30%. In a 53 lap race and on a circuit where cars reach speeds close to 350 km/h, a neutralization can completely modify a one stop strategy, which appears as the most likely option for most teams.
The Safety Car we will see on track on Sunday, moreover, will have a particularity, we will see it with decals from the movie Cars, which celebrates its 20th anniversary of its release, and the safety car will come out with the famous Lightning in allusion to Lightning McQueen, the main character of the film.
After two sessions, Mercedes has Russell at the front of the second practice, Ferrari retains the impact of its strong start and McLaren still needs to find something more to get closer to the leaders. But with the differences reduced, energy management as one of the great challenges and Antonelli forced to fight from the back, Monza left one certainty at the end of Friday: there is still much to discover before qualifying arrives.
