Mercedes’ George Russell topped Friday Practice for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Italy.
Russell finished third in FP1 behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton but rebounded to top FP2 with the fastest lap time of the day from Leclerc as drivers battled hot conditions on a scorching day in Monza.
FP1
Red Bull’s FP1 driver, Ayumu Iwasa was first out on track and laid 1m 34.202 as the initial marker on the hard tyre which was quickly beaten by several drivers, as Russell laid 1m 25.529 as the first representative benchmark on the medium tyre.
Russell then set 1m 25.259 on his second flier but Leclerc found further time with 1m 24.482 in the eighth minute, before Hamilton five minutes later posted 1m 24.291 to go fastest.
Russell then displaced the Ferrari pair but Lando Norris found 0.083 seconds to set the benchmark with 1m 23.719 in the 17th minute, just three minutes before a red flag was shown after Cadillac’s FP1 driver – Colton Herta suffered a hydraulic issue and forced to stop on track.
The session resumed in the 26th minute and four minutes later, Andrea Kimi Antonelli went fastest with 1m 23.644 but Russell found 0.332s to go quicker as both Mercedes drivers opted for the soft tyre. but Leclerc less than a minute later set 1m 23.008 on the medium tyre to top the session from Hamilton by 0.173s.
Leclerc and Hamilton weren’t the only drivers to achieve their fastest laps on the medium tyre as Norris, Arvid Lindblad, Franco Colapinto, Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso too set their quickest laps on that compound.
Russell, Liam Lawson, Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, Paul Aron, Oscar Piastri, Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman and Iwasa meanwhile set their best lap times on the soft tyre, whilst Esteban Ocon and Herta’s laps were done on the hard tyre.
Out of the FP1 runners, Alpine’s Paul Aron emerged quickest of the quartet with the tenth-fastest overall time and only 0.149s behind his teammate for the session, Colapinto who was ninth quickest.
Across at Williams, Luke Browning finished 15th and edged out Carlos Sainz by 0.087s, as Iwasa finished 17th and Herta was slowest after he failed to get back out onto the circuit.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 23.008 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.173 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.304 |
| 4 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | + 0.425 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.636 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.711 |
| 7 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 0.794 |
| 8 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 0.998 |
| 9 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.020 |
| 10 | Paul Aron | Alpine | + 1.169 |
| 11 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.176 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | + 1.563 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 1.618 |
| 14 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.638 |
| 15 | Luke Browning | Williams | + 1.732 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.819 |
| 17 | Ayumu Iwasa | Red Bull | + 1.865 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 2.772 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 2.844 |
| 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.976 |
| 21 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 3.058 |
| 22 | Colton Herta | Cadillac | + 6.914 |
FP2
Bortoleto was first out on track and set 1m 24.666 as the initial benchmark time on the hard tyre but was quickly displaced as Lawson then Piastri went quickest, followed by Leclerc whose lap time was beaten by Antonelli as the Italian went 0.055s faster.
Russell on his second flier on the hard tyre went 0.017s slower than Antonelli but in the 16th minute, he set 1m 23.202 which was beaten seven minutes later when Antonelli switched to the soft tyre and set 1m 22.700 to beat.
Russell responded in the 28th minute to go 0.014s quicker than his teammate, before he lowered the benchmark to 1m 22.559 to top the session, as Leclerc slotted into second in-between the Mercedes pair.
Bortoleto was the only driver to not set his fastest lap time on the soft tyre as he instead finished 15th overall, having done his best lap on the hard tyre.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m 22.559 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.120 |
| 3 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.141 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.384 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.457 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.469 |
| 7 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 0.790 |
| 8 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.811 |
| 9 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.818 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | + 0.896 |
| 11 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.060 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | + 1.101 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 1.173 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.214 |
| 15 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 1.217 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.294 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.341 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.848 |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 2.468 |
| 20 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 2.523 |
| 21 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 2.590 |
| 22 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.694 |
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