Yahoo Autos Hamilton leads Mercedes one-two in final Italian GP practice
Lewis Hamilton led teammate George Russell to the top of the timesheets in final practice at the Italian Grand Prix while Max Verstappen languished more than a quarter of a second off the pace.
The Mercedes drivers set their fastest time with around 10 minutes to go in the session as among the last of the front-runners to embark on their ultimate flying laps, capitalizing on most of the track evolution. Russell set his time first, but the Briton complained that the lap had “felt pretty rubbish” and that the “balance is quite a long way off.”
Hamilton immediately bettered it, but by only 0.093s, setting the benchmark at 1m20.117s.
Charles Leclerc was third fastest, the Ferrari driver only 0.109s off the pace, but the Monegasque set his best lap on 13-lap-old soft tires rather than a fresh set, masking what could have been session-topping pace.
Oscar Piastri slotted into fourth and 0.026s further back after he and Leclerc found themselves under the microscope of race control for impeding in an awkward run-in during the final flying laps. Television showed Piastri appearing to shove Leclerc towards the right-side grass exiting the second Lesmo in what could have been retribution for being blocked earlier around the lap. But subsequent replays revealed Piastri had been attempting to get out of the way of the fast-approaching Daniel Ricciardo to his left, giving the impression of a clumsy accident. Though all three cars escaped damage, the matter was referred to the stewards for a post-session investigation.
Lando Norris slotted into fifth just 0.01s slower than Piastri, but of considerable more intrigue was his 0.106s advantage over Verstappen in sixth.
Verstappen struggled through several attempts at a flying lap but found his efforts stymied by a recalcitrant RB20 that couldn’t navigate the middle sector with any sort of competitive speed.
“The car doesn’t turn low speed or medium speed,” he radioed after setting his best time 0.251 off Hamilton’s benchmark.
Carlos Sainz was seventh for Ferrari and 0.346s off the pace, his best time coming on heavily used soft tires.
Alex Albon led the midfield in eighth ahead of new teammate Franco Colapinto, who was 0.309s back in ninth.
Nico Hulkenberg was the fastest driver in the first sector but ended 10th and 0.826s off the pace, pipping 11th-placed Fernando Alonso to the place by 0.025s.
Daniel Ricciardo was 12th despite having his first flying lap blocked by the Piastri-Leclerc incident, but his second attempt moved him up to 12th and 0.064s ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda despite the Australian not being equipped with the car’s latest upgrade package.
Pierre Gasly was 14th ahead of Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen — the Haas driver was instructed to stop on track at the end of the session with a technical problem — and Esteban Ocon.
Sergio Perez saved his soft tire run until late but botched his lap, lacking grip through the first sector and running off the road at the Roggia chicane, leaving him 18th and 1.17s off the pace.
Sauber teammates Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finished bottom of the order in 19th and 20th.
