George Russell led the second practice of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, displacing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc from the top of the timesheets. Russell set a lap of 1m22.559s in the second half of the session as part of a mid-session shootout between the Brit, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and Russell’s Mercedes teammate, Kimi Antonelli, who took the top three. After lukewarm laps on hard tyres, also led by Russell, the second practice session came to life after 20 minutes as the frontrunners increased the pace on soft Pirelli tyres, which had only been used sporadically in FP1. On red rim tyres, Antonelli set the fastest first sector before re-entering the pits when he was blocked by traffic at the Parabolica, Monza’s famous final corner. On his next attempt, Antonelli weaved through traffic and posted a lap of 1m22.700s to reach the top, while teammate Russell took the lead with a lap of 1m22.686s. Leclerc, who had led the way in the first session, responded with a 1m22.679s effort, before Russell immediately claimed the lead with a more comfortable 1m22.559s. That time remained intact until the end, as the teams largely switched to long runs, with Leclerc and Antonelli finishing second and third. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images 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, well ahead of Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren. Arvid Lindblad made a big impression for Racing Bulls, briefly taking third place in the opening stages before setting the seventh fastest time. Oliver Bearman was an encouraging eighth place finish for the struggling Haas team. FP2 was Max Verstappen’s first outing of the weekend after he handed his Red Bull over to reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa for a mandatory rookie outing. As is often the case at Red Bull on Fridays, Verstappen was constantly looking for a nice balance on his RB22, and a change to the front wing didn’t seem to improve things. Verstappen could only manage ninth place as Red Bull’s leading driver, with Racing Bulls substitute Yuki Tsunoda completing the top 10. Tsunoda will have a second weekend with his former team, as Liam Lawson replaced the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull. In FP2, Lawson placed 12th behind Alpine’s Franco Colapinto. The only notable incidents were a spin by Leclerc in the second chicane, the loss of the rear of his Ferrari on the high curbs and a dangerous case involving Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. As Stroll exited the pitlane, the Canadian swerved carelessly towards Norris, who had to take action to avoid him. The incident will be investigated by FIA race stewards after the session. There was also some concern at Audi over a bad sound from the V6 engine at the rear of Gabriel Bortoleto’s car, forcing the Brazilian to abandon his race plan early. Read also: F1 Italian GP – FP2 Results We want to hear from you! Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future. Take our survey: the Autosport.com team
