Italy – Free Practice 3: Hamilton in the Lead, Rosberg at a Standstill

The sun is shining and the birds are singing for this third and final practice session in Monza. The track temperature at 11 a.m. is already 33°C and the air temperature is 22°C. It’s clearly the hottest and sunniest morning we’ve had since the start of the weekend.

The session is underway! The first driver on track is the Russian Daniil Kvyat, who will be penalized 10 grid places at the Grand Prix for using a sixth internal combustion engine on his Toro Rosso. He is followed by several drivers for their installation lap. After a few moments, several drivers have already had to go through the escape road at the first chicane: Nico Rosberg and then Kevin Magnussen. The German is also complaining about a small issue with his gearbox; he is called back to the pits. Jenson Button takes the lead with 1:27.076, before improving his time by three tenths.

Valtteri Bottas, despite having the best time in the last two sectors, falls short by 70 thousandths from the 2009 World Champion. Two laps later, he takes the lead with a time of 1:26.693. On the Mercedes side, Rosberg is still having trouble with his gears and must return to the pits again.

**After 20 minutes**, Bottas leads Button, Hülkenberg, Alonso, and Massa. Sutil, experiencing a hydraulic leak issue, and Rosberg are the only drivers without a timed lap. Felipe Massa takes second place, a tenth behind his Finnish teammate, before Alonso slips between the two Williams with the same time as Bottas. Meanwhile, Kvyat approaches the Ascari chicane with oversteer: spectacular but moderately effective.

Nico Rosberg is out of his car in his pit and his session is over: Mercedes announces a gearbox problem. The team hopes to fix the problem without changing it and thus avoid a 5-place penalty. Shortly after this announcement, Sergio Perez stops inside Curva Grande; apparently another gearbox problem. He is quickly moved behind the safety rails.

Hamilton reminds everyone of his prowess: after spending the first part of the session working on long runs, the Briton sets the provisional fastest time at 1:25.742, eight-tenths ahead of Button’s McLaren, on hard tires (orange). However, the Briton complains about his brakes and his DRS « not working ». Alonso is the first driver to fit the medium tires (white).

After 40 minutes, Hamilton leads Button, Bottas, Alonso, and Ricciardo. But the Spaniard sets the second provisional time, less than two-tenths behind the Mercedes. His teammate, Kimi Räikkönen, climbs to third place on mediums, six-tenths behind the 2008 World Champion. Few drivers are on track ten minutes before the end of FP3, but the track should soon be crowded with a pack on white-walled tires.

Hamilton is among the first: if he sets the best time in the second sector, he ultimately falls short by 3 thousandths of his previous mark. Bottas and Massa, on medium tires, improve their times but remain about three-tenths off the time set by the Mercedes driver… on hard tires. Finally, Lewis Hamilton manages to improve his time with the softest tires: he sets a 1:25.519, two-tenths better than on hard tires.

The session ends with the best time set by Lewis Hamilton, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas.