The Mercedes F1 team finished both FP1 and FP2 for the 2026 Monaco GP with their drivers being P4 and P5. The second practice session of the weekend had George Russell finish P4 with teammate Kimi Antonelli in P5. Russell found himself 0.379 seconds behind the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton in P1.
Russell deems Mercedes “off the pace” compared to Ferrari
Compared to FP1, Mercedes has already made progress in the second session. The first practice session saw Russell finish one second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P1, with Antonelli 0.559 seconds behind Leclerc. While still being P4 and P5 in the second practice, the gap to the cars ahead has significantly decreased.
When asked after FP2 what made the difference between the gaps in FP1 and FP2, Russell said:
“Set-up. We were in two different directions for FP1, just to get an understanding. Clearly, there was one way that was better and straight away FP2, I felt much more comfortable, but we are off the pace compared to Ferrari.”
Asked if the corner of Swimming Pool chicane is even more special with this generation of cars, Russell explained:
“Yeah, you come out of Turn 12, and when you go on the power, the acceleration is massive. You’ve got 300, I think we’d have 350 on acceleration out of Turn 12. So, you’re just flying into 13 and it’s cool. I think everyone’s been surprised with this generation how low all the cars have been running. I think we all anticipated higher ride heights. It hasn’t quite been the case.“
Mercedes attempting to find the right set-up ahead of F1 Monaco GP Qualifying
Deputy Team Principal at Mercedes, Bradley Lord, also spoke after the FP2 session. He was asked about the upgrade the team brought for the weekend and how it is meant to help tackle the Monte Carlo track.
“We’ve got the usual Monaco upgrades in terms of the front suspension just to make sure that we can get round the corners and the extra steering lock. Then, aerodynamically, obviously, the lack of straight line mode at this event means there is an opportunity with the box, the sort of regulatory box on the rear wing where the actuator normally lives, to add some winglets and just add what’s some quite draggy downforce, but nonetheless, a little bit more downforce for a circuit where you want as much of it as you can find.”
Speaking about the speed of the car in Sector 2 and the fact they are down on Ferrari and Red Bull, Lord explained:
“Yeah, I think he [Kimi Antonelli] just said that the balance was a little bit unpredictable so not quite sure what he’s going to get when he’s turning in. Obviously, it’s the sector with some of the quicker corners where you need to commit. So, we’ll dig through the data and see what we did to the set-up between FP1 and FP2 that cost him a little bit of that confidence.
“On the flip side, George [Russell] I think was much more comfortable in the second session than the first. Hopefully we can combine the best of both sessions with each driver and come up with a set-up for tomorrow and some tweaks to the set-up that leave them both comfortable on that single flying lap that’s so important in qualifying.”
Antonelli struggling with the Mercedes car in Monaco
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli also found himself struggling in FP2 of the 2026 F1 Monaco GP. While he was almost four-tenths ahead of Russell in FP1, FP2 saw him over one-tenth behind him in FP2.
In a press release from Mercedes, Antonelli spoke about the session, saying:
“It was not the most straightforward Friday of the season. I struggled with the car, particularly in the middle sector and that was limiting our pace. We tried a lot of different set-up options and have gathered a lot of good data. That will help us evaluate what work to do overnight and what changes to make for FP3 and Qualifying.
“Ferrari look to be in a very strong position. We know they are typically good in Monaco, and they certainly seem to be favourites for tomorrow. We know there is more time for us to find though given we didn’t get the car in its perfect sweet spot yet, so hopefully we can take a step forward and be in the mix tomorrow.“
