F1 Italian GP: Russell beats Leclerc to top second practice
Mercedes driver George Russell secured the fastest time in the second practice session for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He outperformed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and his own teammate Kimi Antonelli during a competitive mid-session shootout.
Why it matters
This session highlights the ongoing performance shifts in the F1 grid as teams prepare for the Italian GP, with Mercedes showing strong pace against Ferrari and McLaren.
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.
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