> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.the-race.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Winners and losers from Italian GP F1 practice - URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/winners-losers-f1-2026-italian-gp-practice/ - Published: 2026-09-04T16:41:37.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-04T16:41:37.000Z - Description: The Italian GP is a big weekend for two of F1's biggest teams and their drivers. Here's where they slot into our pick of Friday winners and losers - Author: The Race Team - Tags: Formula 1, #italian-grand-prix, #george-russell, #ferrari, #oliver-bearman, #esteban-ocon, #haas, #red-bull, #max-verstappen, #honda, #aston-martin, #fernando-alonso, #primary_homepage_feature The Italian Grand Prix is a big weekend for two of Formula 1's biggest teams and their drivers. At Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli is the first Italian driver to be leading the championship at their home grand prix for more than 70 years; while on the other side of the garage, George Russell knows this weekend offers a big chance to reignite his title challenge considering Antonelli is carrying a grid penalty. And we can't really overstate how significant the Monza race is to Ferrari - not least this year, where it still has outside hopes of winning the F1 title. So who from that quarter has started off strong, and who else is up with them? And who already needs the weekend to take a drastic upturn? Here's our pick of Friday winners and losers and their FP2 positions: ## Winner: Ferrari's new engine (2nd & 5th) Ferrari's second ADUO upgrade has been the big talking point heading into the weekend, and the early signs are promising - with Charles Leclerc second fastest in FP2, 0.120s off Russell's pace and right up there on long-run pace. To this we must add not only the usual caveat that this is Friday practice, but also the fact Leclerc's impressive pace was on the soft Pirellis versus the hards used by the Mercedes drivers - and the rapid Red Bull of Liam Lawson. Friday isn't the day for definitive conclusions, but it's at least a promising start for Ferrari at a circuit that exposes its power deficit. And given that the engine upgrade, which both drivers are running, was never expected to wipe out the disadvantage but reduce it, that's encouraging for the Tifosi. **\- Edd Straw** ## Loser: Honda's latest engine (19th & 22nd) Fernando Alonso suggested on Thursday that Monza might be the better test of [how much Honda's improved](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/everything-we-learned-f1-2026-italian-gp-day-one/) its F1 engine than the Zandvoort circuit at which it made its debut. And, well... the initial results don't look great on that score. Monza is the circuit where power is king. Honda was always likely to be exposed here; trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara accepted the need to be "realistic" and said it would be "challenging for \[the\] power unit side". But Honda, Aston Martin, and Alonso (and team-mate Lance Stroll) would've wanted better than to be back at the foot of the table, sandwiching the Cadillacs, and realistically more than a second a lap off the next-slowest car. (Discounting Esteban Ocon's Haas.) **\- Jack Cozens** ## Winner: George Russell (1st) "I don't know if we can say we're favourites this weekend, but we probably have a greater opportunity than we've had in the last two races where it's been less about the power unit and more about the chassis. "It's so close right now, that last tenth in qualifying can be the difference of a couple of positions, which can change the podium. Right now, I don't know who is going to be the team to beat." This was Russell speaking on Thursday, before he became the 'driver to beat' at Monza by topping Friday practice, overturning a three-tenth deficit to Ferrari in FP1 to lead Leclerc by 0.120s in FP2. Such an energy-starved circuit should naturally play to the inherent strengths of the Mercedes package, and Russell can also count on assistance from penalised team-mate and title rival Kimi Antonelli come Q3 on Saturday. So, although we can't yet know how much extra performance is to come from that upgraded ADUO 2 Ferrari engine, while Russell also has to deal with the fact his own Mercedes engine is growing quite tired, he's at least started this weekend very much on the front foot. **\- Ben Anderson** ## Loser: Red Bull (9th & 12th) Remember when Max Verstappen's new Red Bull deal was announced and all the mutual optimism that was shared by team and driver? Perhaps it's unfair to use that as a direct callback here; Verstappen and Red Bull know they're not title contenders this season and even the results that have stood out have required a touch of magic from the four-time world champion. Still, the performance picture looks rough since that pre-Zandvoort announcement: sixth in the sprint in the Netherlands; a crash in the Dutch GP; and then the various complaints - of a total lack of downforce (and resulting wing change), lack of grip in slow-speed corners, the brakes not working, and the car "jumping" on the front axle - in FP2 at Monza. Those seem so bad right now that some Verstappen heroics might be needed once again - only this time just to hoist Red Bull above the midfield. **\- JC** ## Winner: Ollie Bearman (8th) Haas's biggest upgrade of 2026 has landed - but only completely on Bearman's car. And he took the new bodywork and Ferrari engine (which team-mate Ocon doesn't have) to eighth in second practice, just 0.8s off the ultimate pace set by Russell and 0.02s behind Racing Bulls's Arvid Lindblad. "It's definitely been our best Friday since probably March or that time of year," said Bearman. "We're in need of a bit of a boost and today has been a big boost for the entire team," he added. Bearman caveated his praise of the new upgrade package - giving him more downforce through corners and more confidence throughout - with the fact that Saturday will be about slipstreams and track position. He added that the car is a bit more draggy than rivals' - but it's a huge step up. Haas head of car engineering Hoagy Nidd said: "It's a huge upgrade. We've updated all of the chassis. It's all of the bodywork rearwards of the cockpit pretty much." Nidd echoed Bearman's comments on Friday at Monza being among the team's strongest of the year, as Haas looks to halt a six-strong run of point-less weekends on Sunday. **\- Samarth Kanal** ## Loser: Esteban Ocon (18th) Ocon has the new bodywork but not the new Ferrari engine, as part of a quirk of F1's technical regulations around [additional engine homologation steps](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/haas-unusual-f1-engine-upgrade-split-italian-gp-ferrari-aduo/), and ended the day more than a second off Haas team-mate Bearman in FP2. Haas's Nidd did play down the difference, saying that Ocon perhaps wasn't given "the best opportunity to get up there" as the new engine doesn't completely account for the disparity. Traffic also cost Ocon on his FP2 push laps - a classic trope at Monza. But it's hard to get past the fact that a (relative) lack of Ferrari engine pep will be painful at the temple of speed and Ocon might find himself towards the back of the pack come qualifying and race day. **\- SK**