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Monza practice sets tone
George Russell topped second practice at Monza on Friday, beating his championship-leading Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli and both Ferraris on their home turf for this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.
“led the way with a best lap of one minute and 22.559 seconds”
Russell’s best lap was one minute and 22.559 seconds, leaving him 0.120sec clear of Charles Leclerc with Antonelli third, 0.141sec adrift, as Russell said, "We got through a lot of work today and seem to have decent pace, but there is more to do,".
Antonelli’s home-race hopes were already constrained because he was set to start from the back of the grid after exceeding the permitted number of power unit changes, and he said, "It will need a lot of overtaking and we gained some experience by running in traffic today in long runs."
In the same session, Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who had been second behind Leclerc sporting a special livery to celebrate Michael Schumacher's first Monza win 30 years ago, while Max Verstappen was only ninth fastest after complaining, "It's like I'm on ice and the brakes don't work either –- and it's much worse with fuel on board too."
Ferrari rivalry and penalties
As practice translated into expectations for qualifying, Antonelli framed Ferrari as the main threat, telling Sky Sports that "Ferrari has made a step forward with the new engine and now the speeds are equal" and adding that he expected "a very tight fight for pole".
In the same build-up, the Times Magazine odds story put Antonelli’s implied win probability at 7% for the Italian Grand Prix and said Mercedes’ engine-allocation decision pushed him out of pole in the betting market, with Toto Wolff saying, "algorithms don't take nationality into consideration."
Antonelli also acknowledged the pressure shift from the grid penalty, with Sky Sports quoting him saying, "Of course, there will always be this kind of talk but, at the end of the day, as much as Ferrari is massive, incredible brand, I am very happy where I am."
Russell’s pace in FP2 and Antonelli’s penalty combined to sharpen the weekend’s matchup, with Philstar noting Russell was 59 points behind Antonelli in the drivers' title race and Hamilton also chasing a 59-point deficit while hoping to "pull something out."
Tow, traffic, and comeback
Free Practice 2 at Monza ended with Russell fastest at 1m 22.559s, splitting the Mercedes drivers with Charles Leclerc second and Antonelli third, as Antonelli was due to start at the back of the grid after taking an engine change.
“"it's dangerous"”
The session featured close racing and tow attempts, with Lando Norris suffering a near-miss at the first chicane and Verstappen commenting, "it's dangerous," after a move by Lance Stroll.
Antonelli’s own running included traffic through the Parabolica as he aborted a first soft-tyre effort, then dipped below 1m 23s with a 1m 22.700s second attempt, while Russell lowered the benchmark to 1m 22.686s after a front wing adjustment.
Looking toward Sunday, Antonelli said in Italian media that starting last meant "I have nothing to lose" and he believed in a top-5, while also insisting, "Ferrari? It will go fast."