FP2 Highlights | 2026 Italian Grand Prix

Second practice at Monza and there was a silver sheen at the top of the timing tables. George Russell of Mercedes with the fastest lap of the day clocked a 1 minute 22 559. It wasn't all plain sailing for the Briton who had a big slide at turn 10, was later concerned with his car's robustness. Just keep an eye on the front suspension, I've got a bit of a weird vibration, it's under braking. Teammate Kimi Antonelli, the current Drivers' Championship leader, was P3 this session. The teenager has commissioned a special helmet design for the Monza weekend, a tribute to another brilliant Italian motorsport hero, Valentino Rossi, the multiple MotoGP world champion. Charles Leclerc was P2, he had a spin exiting turn 5, the Ferrari man competing 180 degree pirouette before reversing his momentum to face the correct way again. Slick moves from the Monagas driver. So he's just lumped the kerb on the second part of the chicane there, but beautifully, I would say, stamped on the brakes, flick it round, drop the clutch and off you go. High temperatures in the Lombardy region have led the organisers to designate this weekend as a heat hazard race. That means drivers will have the option of wearing special cooling devices to mitigate the conditions. Those choosing to do without them will have to carry extra weight to compensate. Four drivers missed out on first practice due to their team's rookie commitment. Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly, Max Verstappen and Alex Albon all were keen to make up for lost time. Albon pushing his Williams, locking up at turn 1 and taking to the escape road. Quite a few drivers had issues at the same spot. Leclerc misjudging his braking point and having to negotiate the polyboards, as did Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton. Reigning world champion Lando Norris ran into traffic there. Not the smartest bit of work Lance Stroll's ever done, getting towards the racing line. Honestly, that's really shabby stuff there from Stroll out of the pits. Yes, what the hell is this guy doing? It's dangerous. Max Verstappen has been having issues with the setup of his Red Bull all season, and FP2 in Monza was no different. The four-time champ struggling with a lack of downforce. Well, this is really bad. Do you want to come through the pit lane and we'll have a look at the front wing that we talked about? After a change of front wing, he still wasn't happy. Also, the cars don't grip at the last Yeah, copy that. Franco Colopinto went very wide exiting turn 10, the Alpine driver losing the back end. Turning, accelerating at high speed and Colopinto, that was actually brilliantly held to keep it pointed forwards there, the way that it fishtailed around. Alpine's driver lineup will remain unchanged for next season after Colopinto signed an extension to his contract. The Argentine replaced Jack Dewan in 2025, who's now a reserve driver at Haas. The French team are in a close battle with racing goals for P5 in the Constructors' Championship and are clearly keen to nurture the close partnership Colopinto has formed with teammate Gasly. After a less than optimal start to their season, Audi have been doing sterling, if quiet, work of late, who won their drivers' finishing in the points for the last four Grand Prix weekends. Gabriel Bortoletto had a wobble at turn four, elected to cut the next to be safe, but later suffered a technical issue. Hey, is everything okay with my engine? Absolutely, there's no, there's nothing wrong. Yeah, Gabi, we will have to box the car, Gabi, we have some mid-fire there. So it finished Russell top from Leclerc, Antonelli, Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Lindblad, Behrmann, Verstappen and Tsunoda. P11 for Colopinto then came Lawson, Hülkenberg, Gasly, Bortoletto, Albon, Sainz, Ocon, Alonso, Perez, Bottas and Stroll.