Robert Kubica puts Ferrari on top in wet-to-dry Monza practice

Robert Kubica put the #83 Ferrari at the head of the field during the second free practice session at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, mastering the tricky transition from wet to dry conditions just north of Milan. As the circuit dried out significantly compared to the morning running, lap times plummeted. Kubica unleashed a stunning best lap of 1m38.143s, leaving him a massive seven seconds quicker than the ultimate pace set earlier in the day.

That phenomenal effort from the 2025 Le Mans winner left the competition scrambling. Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble put the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie second, finishing 0.7 seconds adrift as the screaming V12-powered prototype hunts its maiden FIA WEC victory this Sunday. Raffaele Marciello slotted the BMW into third, extracting a strong late lap in the #15 M Hybrid V8 he shares with Kevin Magnussen and Dries Vanthoor. That machine, sitting equal on points with its sister #20 Hypercar heading into the title decider, ended up almost a full second shy of the Aston Martin.

Further down the order, rookie Victor Martins hauled the #36 Alpine A424 to fourth with a 1m40.058s lap as the drying track rewarded bravery. Mathieu Jaminet kept the striking #19 Genesis GMR-001 right in the mix, showcasing the Korean Hypercar's pace in its maiden FIA WEC season, while Earl Bamber completed the top six in the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R with a 1m40.295s effort. It proved to be a quiet start for the title-battling Toyotas, tumbling down to 12th and 17th positions with the #8 GR010 Hybrid leading the #7 sister car.

Over in the other classes, Proton Competition’s Ford Mustangs locked out the top of the timesheets in a brilliant one-two punch. Sebastian Priaulx fired in a 1m50.352s lap in the dying moments of the session, edging out the sister Mustang of ex-F1 ace Logan Sargeant by a razor-thin 0.087 seconds. Maxime Martin kept the momentum rolling for Iron Lynx by securing the third-best lap in the #61 Mercedes-AMG entry, finishing 0.8 seconds clear of the #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche driven by Ayhancan Güven, who peaked at 1m51.344s.

Lexus slotted into fifth as José María López led the #87 RC F just 0.068 seconds ahead of the sister #78 Akkodis ASP Team-run model driven by Esteban Masson. By contrast, championship leader TF Sport endured a brutal session, with the #33 Corvette unable to climb higher than 17th. Teams will now reset ahead of the third free practice session, scheduled to kick off at 10:30 local time (CET) on Saturday.