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Russell does not believe Mercedes can take anything for granted despite dominant showing in Monza practice Mercedes made a strong start to the Italian Grand Prix weekend at Monza, with George Russell topping the second practice session and Kimi Antonelli finishing third as the team showed encouraging pace over both single-lap and long-run simulations. Russell was already competitive in FP1, setting a 1:23.312 to finish third, while Antonelli ended the opening session fifth with a 1:23.644. The Italian briefly ran wide and dipped a wheel into the gravel, but otherwise enjoyed an uneventful session. Mercedes stepped up its pace significantly in FP2. Russell set the fastest time of the session with a 1:22.559, while Antonelli was only 0.141 seconds behind in third with a 1:22.700. The result puts Mercedes in a promising position heading into Saturday, although the circumstances are very different for the two drivers. Antonelli will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid, meaning much of his Friday programme was focused on optimising the car for race conditions rather than chasing outright qualifying performance. Antonelli focused on race preparationFor Antonelli, his home Italian Grand Prix carries considerable importance, with the Mercedes driver receiving huge support from the Monza crowd. The Italian admitted that Friday was different from a normal race weekend because of his impending back-of-the-grid start, which influenced the team's approach to practice. "It’s amazing to be here at Monza! There has been so much support from the fans, and it means so much to me. I can’t wait to see it over the rest of the weekend, and I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who is cheering for me and the team." Antonelli explained that Mercedes placed greater emphasis on race preparation during Friday's sessions. "Today was a little bit different to a usual Friday. As we will be starting from the back of the grid, we focused much more of our efforts on optimising for our race pace." The programme allowed Mercedes to gather valuable data, particularly from running in traffic during its long-run simulations. "We gathered a lot of data, and we didn’t seem too far away in terms of competitiveness. We will need to be strong if we are to battle our way back towards the front of the field; we will need to do a lot of overtaking on Sunday." Antonelli believes the experience of running behind other cars could prove particularly useful when he attempts to recover positions during Sunday's race. "We got some experience of that by running in traffic during our long runs and that will hopefully prove to be very useful learning for the race." Russell encouraged by Mercedes paceRussell, meanwhile, enjoyed an extremely positive Friday, ending the day fastest in FP2 and showing strong pace on both short and long runs. The Briton was pleased with the amount of work Mercedes managed to complete and believes the team has made a solid start to the weekend. "It was great to be back on track here in Monza. It’s a brilliant circuit and always fun to drive. It was quite a strong Friday for us; we got through lots of work and seemed to have decent pace on both the single lap and long run." Mercedes made changes to the car between the two sessions, with Russell reporting that the adjustments produced an improvement. "We made some adjustments after FP1 that helped but we know we’ve still got more work to do overnight," added the Mercedes driver. Despite topping FP2, Russell does not believe Mercedes can take anything for granted. Ferrari, in particular, impressed at its home circuit, with Charles Leclerc finishing just one tenth behind Russell. Russell therefore expects the battle for pole to be closely contested, while also keeping an eye on McLaren and Red Bull. The Mercedes driver therefore remains cautious despite topping the day's final session. "Ferrari looked very competitive and they still look to be the ones to beat. We also know how strong McLaren have been recently and I have no doubt they will get themselves in the mix for tomorrow. We can’t count out Red Bull either." "It’s an encouraging opening to the weekend but it’s early days. Let’s see what Saturday brings."