The Briton set the early benchmark in the session on soft tyres and subsequently cranked up the dial with a 1m30.374s to put distance between himself and the rest of the field.
Russell slotted in behind to sit second, despite enduring a difficult opening to the session and could not match the first lap Hamilton had set as he lacked traction in the opening sector.
On a different run after taking another set of soft tyres, Russell moved up the order to set a 1m30.580s and move ahead of then-runner-up Carlos Sainz, who was subsequently displaced by a lap from Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.
Oscar Piastri was fifth fastest thanks to his session-best middle sector, which ensured Verstappen could only end the session in sixth - just 0.477s off Hamilton's best.
As the second practice session was at 6pm, at the same time of day that Saturday's race will take place, the conditions were more representative of those expected in the key sessions across the rest of the weekend.
That said, temperatures were uncharacteristically low at an ambient 17.2 degrees celsius, with a crosswind across the straight.
Source: Autosport