ITALIAN GP – Lewis Hamilton leads a Mercedes one-two nearly a tenth ahead of George Russell in third practice
Lewis Hamilton was fastest in third practice for the Italian Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver set a 20.117 going almost a tenth faster than teammate George Russell. The seven-time champion set his fastest time in the closing moments in what proved to be a hugely competitive session with the top four teams covered by three and a half tenths.
Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari third as he was a hundredth and a half behind Russell as he went two hundredths ahead of the two McLaren’s. The Ferrari drivers were pushed off top spot by the two silver arrows after they had a better final qualifying simulation at the end of the session.
But the lap could suggest there is more to come for Leclerc as his time was delivered on significantly older tyres than those used by the Mercedes cars. Oscar Piastri went fourth three hundredths behind Leclerc, as he went a hundredth faster than his teammate Lando Norris. Max Verstappen put his Red Bull fifth, however the Dutchman was a tenth behind Norris one of the bigger gaps between the top four teams.
Verstappen echoed his usual concerns that the “car doesn’t turn in the low-speed, medium-speed” corners, and fluffed his final attempt having struggled through the Lesmos – although capped it off with a fastest final sector.
Red Bull again has looked a bit out of sorts in practice with him complaining about getting the Red Bull to turn, he was nearly a tenth faster than the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. the Spaniard going a tenth quicker than the two Williams, with his new teammate Alex Albon comfortably ahead of Franco Colapinto. While Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten three-tenths behind the Argentine.
Practice three saw the top ten covered by eight tenths though their was a much tighter fight at the front, with a tenth and a half covering both Mercedes and McLaren, with Leclerc in-between the two. But Monza often can be highly competitive given its long straights, the power of the tow and straight-line speed.
Fernando Alonso missed out on the top ten by a quarter of a second as went a tenth faster than the RB’s, Daniel Ricciardo was over half a tenth faster than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Pierre Gasly was fourteenth as he went two thousandths faster than Lance Stroll.
Kevin Magnussen was sixteenth, ahead of Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez and the two Sauber’s completing the field. Valtteri Bottas six-tenths faster than teammate Guanyu Zhou. In the closing moments of the session Kevin Magnussen was instructed to stop on track with an apparent technical issue.