Final practice for the 2024 Italian GP got underway in sunny conditions around Monza.
The two Sauber cars of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were the first to go out on track, but it was Haas’ Kevin Magnussen the first to set a fast lap, with a 1:21.774 on the soft tyres.
That was soon beaten by the two Red Bulls, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen setting a 1:21.560 on the medium tyres, going straight to the top, just 0.102s clear of his team-mate Sergio Perez.
With a flurry of laps coming in as the session reached its one-quarter mark, Oscar Piastri hit the front of the field with a 1:20.887 on the soft tyres, just 0.063s ahead of the medium-tyred Verstappen in P2, followed by Russell and Hamilton, respectively.
Dutch GP winner Lando Norris then went fastest overall on the soft tyres, a tenth of a second quicker than the Australian, before Carlos Sainz and George Russell went to the top, with the latter setting a 1:20.706 on the medium tyres.
Charles Leclerc then went fastest on the soft tyres, with a 1:20.614, for the delight of the Monza crowd, as the session approached 25 minutes of running.
Franco Colapinto continued to impress in his debut weekend for Williams, going 13th fastest as the session reached its halfway mark, just half-a-second back from Alex Albon and a second off the overall pace from Leclerc.
The top 10 at the 30-minute mark was as follows: Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Norris, Piastri, Verstappen, Albon, Hulkenberg and Perez.
But that was soon changed as Alex Albon put in a great lap for Williams, setting a 1:20.596 on the soft tyres to go fastest overall, 18 milliseconds clear of Leclerc.
Oscar Piastri had a brief trip to the gravel at the exit of Lesmo 2, but managed to keep his McLaren going without major issues.
That time of Albon was then beaten by his future team-mate at Williams and current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who went quickest with a 1:20.463, closely followed by his current team-mate Charles Leclerc.
After suffering with a hot seat during Friday, George Russell was still feeling the heat in FP3, reporting over the radio that his seat was one again “hot”.
Ferrari continued to look strong even on used tyres, with Leclerc going fastest overall on soft tyres that had been used for 13 laps, setting a 1:20.226 to go nearly a quarter of a second clear of his team-mate in P2.
Lando Norris couldn’t beat the Monegasque’s time despite running a brand-new set of soft tyres, as he placed in second, 36 milliseconds back from the Ferrari benchmark, with Oscar Piastri equally failing to beat the Ferrari’s used tyre pace, slotting in into second, 0.01s clear of Norris.
The Australian then got into a bit of trouble as he found the Monegasque on a slow lap and felt impeded – and the pair nearly collided later in the lap, as a fast Daniel Ricciardo approached the pair of them, with the Ferrari driver having to take to the grass to avoid contact.
Max Verstappen’s first real flying lap on the soft tyres could only yield him the sixth fastest time, a quarter of a second back from Lewis Hamilton’s new benchmark of a 1:20.117, as Mercedes found pace to go 1-2 at the temple of speed.
The Dutchman shaked his head as he crossed the line, and reported over the radio that “the car doesn’t turn – medium speed and low speed” – in what is a recurring theme of the last few races, as the RB20 struggles with chronic understeer.
Franco Colapinto put in a very strong lap towards the end of the session, going ninth-fastest, just three tenths back from Albon.
Red Bull’s struggles continued in the other side of the garage, as Sergio Perez had to abort his attempt at a fast lap after losing traction out of the first corner and missing the apex at the second chicane, going wide and backing off.
The incident was noted by race control for failing to follow race director’s notes, which requires any car that goes off in the second chicane to go around the bollard in the run-off area. Lance Stroll has also been noted for the same infringement.
Max Verstappen couldn’t find any improvements in his final flying lap as the clock ticked down to zero, staying outside the top five – and once again showed frustration, raising his hand in the cockpit even during his lap, as he dipped a wheel in the gravel out of the second chicane.
Kevin Magnussen had to stop his Haas on the straight towards the Ascari chicane after the session ended, as he nursed some kind of urgent problem in the VF-24.
The final classified order of the top 10: Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Sainz, Albon, Colapinto and Hulkenberg.
Outside the top 10, Fernando Alonso was P11, ahead of Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Gasly, Stroll, Magnussen, Ocon, Perez, Bottas and Zhou rounded out the field, ahead of a crucial qualifying hour at the Temple of Speed.
