George Russell leads second practice at Monza

George Russell topped the second free-practice session for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, giving Mercedes the fastest car in the session. The British driver set a time of 1 minute, 22.559 seconds on his quickest lap, completing 29 laps of the 5.793-kilometre circuit.

Charles Leclerc, who had led the opening practice session for Ferrari, finished second, 0.120 seconds behind Russell. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was third, 0.141 seconds off the pace. Antonelli will start the race from the back of the grid after exceeding the permitted limit for power-unit changes.

Lando Norris was fourth, 0.384 seconds behind Russell, using soft tyres like the three drivers ahead of him. The McLaren driver is the reigning world champion and has won the past two races, in Hungary and the Netherlands. He is fourth in the championship with 159 points, 83 behind leader Antonelli, who has 242.

Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Ferrari, followed by Oscar Piastri, Arvid Lindblad, Oliver Bearman and Max Verstappen. Franco Colapinto, who drives for Alpine, finished 13th after completing 26 laps. He was 1.060 seconds slower than Russell, dropping outside the top 10 after placing ninth in the first practice session.