Kimi Antonelli and George Russell believe Ferrari has made a significant step forward with its new engine at Monza, with Mercedes warning that the Italian team could be its biggest threat in qualifying. Russell topped FP2, but both drivers expect Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull to challenge Mercedes for the leading positions on Saturday.
Mercedes made an encouraging start to the Italian Grand Prix weekend, with Russell ending Friday’s second practice session at the top of the timesheets and immediately establishing himself as one of the leading candidates for pole position.
Antonelli followed a different programme, however, concentrating more heavily on race preparation ahead of Sunday. The Italian will start from the back of the grid after taking a penalty for using his fifth power unit of the season, meaning his focus was less about qualifying performance and more about understanding how quickly he can recover positions during the race.
Despite the penalty, Antonelli remains confident that Mercedes has the pace required to fight at the front.
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Antonelli impressed by Ferrari’s new engine
One of the biggest talking points for Antonelli was the improvement Ferrari appears to have made with the introduction of its ADUO 2 engine specification.
The Mercedes driver believes the development has allowed Ferrari to close the straight-line speed deficit it previously faced against Mercedes.
“Ferrari has certainly made a step forward with the new engine, and now the speeds are the same. We know how competitive their car is in the corners. So, for sure, tomorrow will be a close fight for pole position.”
Ferrari’s improved performance is particularly significant at Monza, where the long straights place considerable emphasis on power and efficiency. Antonelli still believes Mercedes has an advantage overall, but he expects Ferrari to be much closer when qualifying begins.
The Italian has also been buoyed by the support from the home crowd.
“It’s fantastic to be here in Monza! I’ve received incredible support from the fans, and that means the world to me. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the weekend unfolds, and I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s cheering for me and the team.”
Antonelli prepares for a long recovery drive
With a back-of-the-grid start already guaranteed, Antonelli used Friday to prioritise long-run performance rather than chasing the ultimate qualifying lap.
“Today was a slightly different day than usual. Starting from the back of the grid, we focused more on optimizing our race pace. We collected a lot of data and didn’t seem too far from competitive.”
The challenge on Sunday will be converting that pace into overtaking opportunities. Antonelli knows he could have a sizeable number of cars to pass if he is to fight for a strong result.
“We’ll have to be strong if we want to fight for the top spot. We’ll have to do a lot of overtaking on Sunday. We gained experience in this area by lapping in traffic during our free practice sessions, and we hope this will prove to be a useful lesson for the race.”
Russell names Ferrari as Mercedes’ biggest threat
Russell was more directly focused on qualifying preparation and came away from Friday encouraged by Mercedes’ performance over both single-lap and long-run conditions.
“It was fantastic to be back on track here in Monza. It’s a fantastic circuit and always fun to drive.”
“It was a pretty positive Friday for us; we got a lot of work done and seemed to have good pace both over a single lap and over a long distance. We made some changes after FP1 that helped, but we know we still have some work to do overnight.”
Despite topping FP2, Russell does not believe Mercedes can assume it has the advantage. Ferrari, in particular, caught his attention.
“Ferrari looked very competitive and still appears to be the team to beat. We also know how strong McLaren has been lately, and I have no doubt they will join the fight for the top positions tomorrow. We can’t rule out Red Bull either. It’s an encouraging start to the weekend, but it’s still early. Let’s see what Saturday has in store.”
Mercedes refuses to take Friday pace for granted
Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin also urged caution after the encouraging opening day.
“Overall, we had a good Friday here in Monza. It’s difficult to predict performance when going from a high-downforce circuit like Zandvoort to a low-downforce one like Monza, but today’s data was quite encouraging. There’s no guarantee that Friday’s pace will translate into positive performance on Saturday and Sunday, but the car is in a good position and we can aim for further improvements.”
Mercedes also experimented with reducing rear downforce on Russell’s car during FP2, although the final configuration had not yet been decided.
“We need to analyze some data before making a final decision, but we have all night to do so. In terms of performance, the situation seems really balanced; all the teams we’re battling with have shown high pace at different times of the day, so we’re not taking anything for granted, but we’re happy to still be in the running.”
With Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull all showing competitive pace, Saturday’s qualifying session could therefore provide a much clearer picture of the pecking order at Monza. For Antonelli, however, the bigger question will be whether Mercedes’ race pace is strong enough to turn a back-row start into a serious points haul.
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