Italian Grand Prix: Russell tops FP2 as FIA launches Stroll investigation
George Russell in action for Mercedes
George Russell set the pace in FP2 ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc kept Ferrari in the hunt.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top three on Friday at Monza. Meanwhile, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll attracted the attention of the FIA stewards, following an incident branded “dangerous” by Lando Norris.
George Russell tops Italian GP FP2 from Charles Leclerc
The combination of Ferrari and medium tyres set the pace in FP1, Charles Leclerc ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Sporting an upgraded engine and a Michael Schumacher tribute livery, it was an impressive start to the race weekend for Ferrari’s SF-26. Now, the Scuderia looked to ended Friday on top.
Max Verstappen returned for Red Bull, after missing FP1 in order for Ayumu Iwasa to conduct a rookie session. Paul Aron, Luke Browning and Colton Herta also bowed out, as Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez tagged back in.
Antonelli’s 1:23.417 on the hard tyre served as the early benchmark for the pack to chase.
Verstappen took an early front wing change, as he complained of no downforce anywhere on his RB22.
Lando Norris was forced into some major evasive action into the opening chicane, onto the grass and across, as he encountered a slow-moving Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin.
“Dangerous,” was the verdict from Norris, as the stewards quickly noted that incident. It was upgraded to a post-session investigation.
Verstappen now had no slow-speed performance, or brakes, in an initially tricky return to the RB22. His latest effort on mediums elevated him to P6.
Russell elevated the leading pace to a 1:23.202, still on hard rubber, as the session ticked towards its halfway mark.
Teammate Antonelli went to the other end of the scale, as the soft tyres came out to play. A 1:22.700 was delivered by the championship leader. Russell readied his response amid a lull in the Monza action.
By 0.014s, Russell went top.
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The track was now packed with cars on red-walled softs, as the qualifying sim stage of FP2 burst into life.
Leclerc slotted his Ferrari into second, 0.12s off the pace. Norris, on a two-race winning run, went fourth. He a tad under four tenths to find on Russell.
Hamilton, Oscar Piastri and Verstappen followed.
That was until Arvid Lindblad muscled his way into P7, ahead of Verstappen. Having navigated Ferrari-shaped traffic on his lap, it was an impressive effort from the F1 2026 rookie over at Racing Bulls.
Hamilton was forced to straight-line the opening chicane.
Bearman, also running the upgraded Ferrari engine in his Haas, demoted Verstappen another spot.
Race simulations took over for the final quarter of FP2. It was a mix of soft, medium and hard rubber, in what could be an intriguing clue ahead of Sunday.
A big bounce and spin for Leclerc out of the della Roggia chicane was not ideal for his race run.
Gabriel Bortoleto boxed his Audi, something misfiring in the engine. Verstappen complained of his Red Bull jumping increasingly. Colapinto rescued a huge slide out of Ascari. Russell had a vibrating front suspension under braking.
Russell ended FP2 on top, as Leclerc and Antonelli completed the top three.
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Read next: Italian Grand Prix 2026 – FP2 F1 results (Monza)
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