2026 F1 Round 13 Italian Grand Prix FP2: George Russell tops Monza with 1:22.559, Leclerc and Antonelli follow closely, top three split by just 0.141s

In the second practice session of the Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes driver George Russell went quickest with a 1:22.559, 0.120s ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Kimi Antonelli was just 0.021s slower in third, with the top three covered by 0.141s and Mercedes taking first and third.

Alternating soft-tyre runs at the top

After switching to soft tyres, Antonelli encountered traffic at his first attempt through the Parabolica corner, before setting a 1:22.700. Russell then moved ahead of his team-mate with a 1:22.686 after front-wing adjustments, before Leclerc briefly went quickest with a 1:22.679. Russell ultimately lowered the benchmark to 1:22.559.

Norris finished fourth, with Hamilton and Piastri fifth and sixth respectively. Lindblad was seventh, Bearman eighth, Verstappen ninth and Yuki Tsunoda tenth, with six drivers from three teams occupying the top six.

Setup work and practice incidents

After Ayumu Iwasa filled in for him in FP1, Verstappen returned to the Red Bull car for FP2. He reported a lack of downforce, and after the team changed the front wing he briefly climbed as high as eighth on the medium tyre, eventually ending the session 0.818s off the pace.

During the session, drivers tried to use slipstreaming to gain speed. Norris, in the braking zone for the first chicane, encountered Stroll moving toward the racing line and went onto the grass to avoid him.

In the final 10 minutes, Leclerc continued after a spin at the second chicane; Colapinto ran wide at high speed on the exit of Ascari. Antonelli reported understeer, while Bortoleto ended the session early due to an engine issue.

Full FP2 classification