George Russell Tops Second Practice at Monza

In the second practice session for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, George Russell of Mercedes secured the top position with a lap time of 1m22.559s, just ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who clocked in at 1m22.679s. Kimi Antonelli also performed well for Mercedes, finishing with a time of 1m22.700s.

The session began under hot conditions, with teams initially using hard tires before transitioning to qualifying simulations. Russell utilized a tow on the long straights, while Leclerc briefly took the lead when soft tires were introduced. Lando Norris from McLaren finished fourth with a time of 1m22.943s, followed closely by Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri.

Max Verstappen returned to Red Bull after missing the first practice but expressed dissatisfaction with his car's performance, ending the session in ninth place. The practice concluded with all teams completing long runs across three tire compounds, indicating a likely one-stop strategy for the race.