Max ninth in FP2 at the Italian GP

Published on 04 September 2026 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen has come ninth in the second free practice of the Italian Grand Prix. The four-time world champion struggled with the car, while Mercedes-driver George Russell closed the session fastest, ahead of hometown heroes Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli.

FP2 marks the first time Max is out on track this weekend; reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa took Max’s Oracle Red Bull Racing car for a spin during the first session. On the Monza circuit, the other teams follow Red Bull’s lead and send out more reserve drivers. Max starts on the medium tyres, and notes a 1:24.7 flying lap.

During the opening phases, Max is not happy with the car. Via the team radio, he reports a real lack of downforce. After switching out the front wing, the Dutchman manages to improve his performance little by little. After the initial 20-minute mark, Max has a 1:27.7 time on the time charts. It puts him in sixth place. Mercedes starts well — George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are both out on the hard tyres, but nevertheless manage to claim first and second place. Russell is the fastest of the two with a 1:23.2 time.

Early on into the session, drivers start to switch to the soft tyres. Antonelli is the first to switch, and sets a 1:22.7 time. Russell and Charles Leclerc follow, but both their flying laps come a couple of thousandths short of Antonelli. In his second flying lap, Russell builds a gap to the rest of the grid of about a tenth. With a 1:22.559 time, he’s the fastest man of the weekend. At the top of the timesheets, the times are close, but at Oracle Red Bull Racing, the performances are not completely up to standard. Max notes the seventh-fastest time on soft tyres. He has an eight-tenths gap to the fastest time.

n the closing phases, the teams run their simulation runs. A couple of drivers improved on their times, but the pace is slow going. At the falling of the flag, Russell is the fastest man on track, followed by crowd-favorites Leclerc and Antonelli. Oracle Red Bull Racing is prescribed a long night at the office, as Max ends the session in ninth, with teammate Liam Lawson in twelfth.