Russell concedes Ferrari's Monaco dominance is real after Hamilton leads FP2

Lewis Hamilton led Charles Leclerc to a Ferrari one-two in FP2 at the Monaco Grand Prix on Friday, finishing 0.168 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and underlining the Scuderia’s grip on the weekend before qualifying has even begun. George Russell ended the session fourth, 0.388 seconds off the pace, with championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli a tenth further back in fifth.

Russell had arrived in Monte Carlo expecting Ferrari to set the pace, but the margin of their advantage still caught Mercedes off guard. “We expected Ferrari to be the guys to beat. A lot of people thought it was just chat, but clearly they are the team to beat,” he said. “I think Red Bull have also been a bit of a surprise for us.”

The Mercedes driver acknowledged that this weekend was always going to be the team’s stiffest test of the season, and that Friday had confirmed those fears. “We knew out of the races so far this was going to be our most challenging. It’s probably been slightly more challenging than we would have hoped, but we did make some good improvements from FP1 into FP2.”

Russell pointed to Ferrari’s mechanical characteristics as the root of their advantage on Monaco’s warped and undulating street circuit. “Every car has an inherent DNA and their inherent DNA, especially on the mechanical side of the car, clearly works on these street tracks,” he explained. “Especially when there’s a lot of warp in the corners, the corners dropping away.”

Mercedes is understood to have several overnight setup changes in mind to close the gap, though Russell was measured about their prospects. “We need to make the same step again overnight and I don’t think we nailed it today. There is room to improve, but definitely Ferrari are the team,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to try and make those improvements. I do think we can close the gap if we can overcome it.”

The pre-event logic behind Ferrari’s favourite tag centred on the low-speed performance of their chassis, the strong torque delivery of their power unit, and a smaller turbocharger configuration — all traits that suit the slow, tight corners of Monte Carlo. Friday’s timesheets offered little reason to question that analysis.