Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Lewis Hamilton confirmed

The drivers have been shy at the start of the session. They have been quite discreet. No rush in the pit lane. Only Kevin Magnussen, Sergio Perez, and Max Verstappen set the first benchmark in the first ten minutes of the session. Not surprisingly, it was the Dutchman who was the fastest (1:21:560) on medium tires while the Dane was on softs.

The best provisional time was taken back by Mercedes, still with yellow-walled tires. Before Oscar Piastri arrived with his soft tires and took the lead.

The 2023 pole already beaten.

Twenty minutes after the start of the session, Carlos Sainz got the crowd on their feet. He went faster than the McLarens, which appear to be the favorites here along with the Mercedes. George Russell quickly silenced the tifosi by taking the lead immediately. His teammate took the provisional third place. This leaves you with four cars within less than a tenth.

Alexander Albon put in an almost perfect lap. On the attack, the Thai driver reclaimed the best time from Charles Leclerc thanks to a slipstream. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri had a scary moment coming out of the second Lesmo corner. The Australian almost lost control of his McLaren, which went into understeer. He managed to regain control, but stirred up a lot of gravel.

Max Verstappen a little further back.

The drivers continued to accelerate as the minutes went by. The Ferrari drivers were in good shape in front of their fans. Carlos Sainz and then Charles Leclerc improved the best reference twice. The Monegasque driver lapped faster than the pole position set by his teammate last year. An event made possible thanks to the refurbishment of the track and various adjustments.

Mercedes drivers, led by Lewis Hamilton, took control with ten minutes remaining. No driver managed to beat the double world champion’s reference time. Max Verstappen, although two tenths behind, is only sixth. The Dutchman is very frustrated on board his Red Bull and complained about the handling.

Mercedes and McLaren will likely be the two main forces for the qualifications. It will also be necessary to keep an eye on Franco Colapinto who has gained a lot of confidence and is finishing just behind his teammate. As has been the case since the beginning of the weekend, the Alpines are lagging behind. Only Pierre Gasly is able to extract a bit more performance from his car.

Sergio Perez is once again very far down in the hierarchy with an 18th place nearly a second behind his teammate.

The ranking