George Russell Sets the Pace for Italian Grand Prix Pole at Monza
George Russell threw down a serious marker at Monza, staking his claim as the man to beat for Italian Grand Prix pole by heading final practice for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
On a circuit that usually belongs to Ferrari’s myth and Mercedes’ muscle, it was Russell who split the difference. His 1:22.219 around the Temple of Speed put him a shade over two tenths clear of Hamilton, in a session that again underlined how finely poised this weekend is between the two giants.
Russell steps out of the shadow
This has not been Russell’s season. He started the year as the internal favourite, then watched Kimi Antonelli, younger and far less experienced, rip up the script and take control of the championship fight.
Monza may be where that story changes.
Russell looked sharp all session, calm on the brakes into the Rettifilo chicane, committed through Ascari, ruthless through Parabolica. Mercedes even experimented with using Antonelli as a tow gun, sending the Italian out to punch a hole in the air for Russell on the long straights. In the end, Russell didn’t need it. His best laps came without a slipstream, a statement in itself at a track where the tow can be worth crucial tenths.
For a driver searching for rhythm and authority, this was exactly the kind of rehearsal he needed before qualifying.
Antonelli’s penalties change the picture
The irony is that the man leading the championship is the one with the least to gain on Saturday.
Antonelli arrives at his home race with a 59-point cushion over both Russell and Hamilton, but he will start from the back of the grid after taking new engine components. No matter how well he qualifies, the penalties pin him to the rear.
That freed Mercedes to put him on more race-focused, long-run work in FP3. Even so, Antonelli still clocked the fourth-fastest time, behind only Russell, Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. It was a quiet but ominous reminder: even compromised, he’s still right there.
Behind him, Lando Norris continued his own late-season charge. The McLaren driver, winner of the last two races and now just 83 points off Antonelli, finished fifth. Charles Leclerc slotted in sixth for Ferrari, giving the tifosi a glimpse of pace but not yet the knockout punch they crave.
Ferrari sharpen up at home
Ferrari came into Monza chasing straight-line speed. They brought their second engine upgrade of the season to their home race, desperate to trim the deficit to Mercedes on the long drags that define this circuit.
The early signs are encouraging. The red cars are no longer being bullied on the straights. The gains look real. But if Ferrari want a pole that would send the grandstands into delirium, they still need more. Russell’s benchmark lap left them with work to do before qualifying.
Even so, the atmosphere around the Scuderia feels different this weekend. The car is alive in a straight line, the balance improved, and Hamilton – now in red and second on the timesheets – looks more and more like the old title fighter rather than a veteran making up the numbers.
Flashpoint at Turn 1
The calm of a productive session cracked in the closing minutes.
Hamilton and Verstappen, whose rivalry once defined this era, found themselves fighting again – this time over track position, not a world title. As they wound up for their final flying laps, Hamilton slipped ahead of the Red Bull approaching the final corner, a move that infuriated Verstappen.
The Dutchman lit it up over the line, tried to drag race the Ferrari down the pit straight and then lunged to the inside into Turn 1. Hamilton bailed out, jinking out of the move to avoid contact. For a split second, Monza held its breath, memories flashing back to their notorious 2021 clash at the same chicane.
This time, there was no carbon-fibre confetti, no cars stacked on top of each other. The stewards took a look, noted the incident, and chose not to investigate. The message was clear: hard racing, nothing more.
Still, the moment left a taste of tension in the air. These two don’t need a title fight to find each other on track.
A pole with consequences
Behind the stopwatch, the stakes for Russell are obvious. A strong qualifying here does more than put him on the front row; it can reframe his season.
With Antonelli shackled by penalties and Hamilton still adapting to Ferrari’s evolving package, Monza offers Russell a rare, clean shot. Pole would not erase the frustrations of the year, but it would give him the launchpad he has been missing.
As Naomi Schiff put it on Sky Sports F1, this is a psychological sport as much as a mechanical one. A team-mate leading the championship can weigh heavily. Sessions like this shift that weight.
Mercedes, too, will take heart. Their deployment and efficiency around the lap looked tidy, their straight-line speed strong, their car balanced through the fast stuff. For once, there were no obvious weaknesses to circle in red pen.
Qualifying at Monza often turns into a chaotic, tow-hunting lottery, with drivers tripping over each other in the final minutes. Russell heads into that storm as the man with the pace – and, perhaps for the first time in months, the momentum.
Now the question is simple: can he turn practice promise into a pole that might just drag his title bid back from the brink?
