F1 Italian GP: George Russell outpaces Charles Leclerc in FP2

George Russell has topped second practice at Formula 1's Italian Grand Prix, nudging Ferrari's Charles Leclerc off the top of the timesheets.

Russell set a 1m22.559s lap in the second half of the session as part of a mid-session shootout between the Briton, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Russell's Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who filled the top three.

Following tepid laps on hard tyres, also led by Russell, the second practice session came to life after 20 minutes when the frontrunners upped the pace by donning Pirelli's soft tyres, which had only been sporadically used in FP1.

On the red-rimmed tyres, Antonelli set a fastest first sector before diving back into the pits as he was blocked by traffic in the Parabolica, Monza's famed final corner.

On his next attempt, Antonelli was spared of traffic to fire in a 1m22.700s lap to go top, with team-mate Russell then taking over the lead with a 1m22.686s lap.

Leclerc, who had led the way in the first session, responded with a 1m22.679s effort, before Russell immediately claimed the lead back with a more comfortable 1m22.559s.

That time would remain untouched until the end as teams largely switched to long-run practice, with Leclerc and Antonelli thus finishing second and third.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris, winner of the last two grands prix, was fourth just four tenths behind Russell, while Hamilton was fifth in the second Ferrari, narrowly ahead of Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren.

Arvid Lindblad made a strong impression for Racing Bulls, briefly holding third in the opening stages before setting the seventh-fastest time. Oliver Bearman was an encouraging eighth for the struggling Haas team.

FP2 was Max Verstappen's first outing of the weekend after he handed his Red Bull to reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa for a mandatory rookie outing. As is often the case for Red Bull on Fridays, Verstappen was constantly chasing an agreeable balance on his RB22, with a front wing flap change not appearing to improve matters.

Verstappen could only muster ninth as the leading Red Bull driver, with Racing Bulls stand-in Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top 10. Tsunoda gets a second weekend at his former team as Liam Lawson deputises for the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull. In FP2, Lawson placed 12th behind Alpine's Franco Colapinto.

The only incidents of note were a spin for Leclerc in the second chicane, losing the rear of his Ferrari on the high sausage kerbs, and a dangerous impeding case involving Aston Martin's Lance Stroll. As Stroll came out of the pitlane, the Canadian carelessly veered into the path of Norris, who had to take avoiding action. The incident will be investigated by the FIA race stewards after the session.

There was also some concern at Audi over an ill-sounding V6 engine in the back of Gabriel Bortoleto's car, forcing the Brazilian to abandon his run plan early.

Italian GP - FP2 results

                                      

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	31	1'22.559		S	252.604
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	29	+0.120 1'22.679	0.120	S	252.238
3	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	32	+0.141 1'22.700	0.021	S	252.174
4	L. Norris McLaren	1		McLaren	Mercedes	25	+0.384 1'22.943	0.243	S	251.435
5	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	27	+0.457 1'23.016	0.073	S	251.214
6	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	26	+0.469 1'23.028	0.012	S	251.177
7	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		RB	Red Bull	26	+0.790 1'23.349	0.321	S	250.210
8	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	29	+0.811 1'23.370	0.021	S	250.147
9	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		Red Bull	Red Bull	30	+0.818 1'23.377	0.007	S	250.126
10	Y. Tsunoda Racing Bulls	22		RB	Red Bull	29	+0.896 1'23.455	0.078	S	249.892
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