F1 Italian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3
Saturday's opening action from the 16th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season
Lewis Hamilton ended Friday as the fastest driver but had the McLaren and Ferrari drivers hot on his heels, as Red Bull languished outside the top 10 with both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Final practice gets under way at 11:30 BST with qualifying at 3pm BST.
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Welcome everybody to Autosport's live text coverage of Free Practice 3 from the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. It's been rather a busy morning hasn't it? Without further ado, let's dive in.
First off, Andrea Kimi Antonelli has finally been announced as a Mercedes driver next year, replacing Lewis Hamilton. In a media conference following the reveal, team boss Toto Wolff said he came up with the idea five minutes after learning of Hamilton's departure for Ferrari. You can read that story here.
The move is not one that is without risk for Mercedes, given Antonelli's tender years and his sole outing on a grand prix weekend thus far ended up in the barriers. Alex Kalinauckas weighs up the factors involved in its decision to advance the 18-year-old's career so rapidly, and what may happen next.
Elsewhere, James Vowles has apologised for comments made yesterday in which he said that part of its decision to take Franco Colapinto as Logan Sargeant's replacement for the rest of the year was because the other candidate, Mercedes reserve Mick Schumacher, was not "special". You can read his clarification here.
Don't let's forget, we have a session to cover. And it has now begun, with Valtteri Bottas the first to leave the pits.
Bottas was inspired during FP1 yesterday and led for much of the way before ending up fifth. The Finn usually goes well at Monza - don't forget that in 2021 he was fastest in qualifying here, but wasn't credited with pole position due to the rules of the period. At the time, pole was given to the winner of the sprint race.
We saw very little running on the hard tyre yesterday as teams sought to find their feet on the newly resurfaced track. That appears to be changing today though, as Bottas, Alonso and Stroll have all bolted on the white side-walled Pirelli tyres.
Red Bull was conspicuous by its absence from the top of the timesheets in FP2 yesterday, but there were several reasons for that. And it's long run pace gave plenty of reasons to be cheerful. For more on what transpired yesterday, and the context behind the times, look no further than Alex Kalinauckas's deep dive here.
We've yet to see a representative time posted, but that may be about to change shortly as Kevin Magnussen winds up a lap on the soft tyres.
Magnussen posts a 1m21.774s to go quickest. Well, he's the only one to set a time. For reference, Lewis Hamilton's benchmark time from FP2 was a 1m20.738s.
Using the medium tyres, Max Verstappen knocks Magnussen off his briefly-held perch. A 1m21.560s is the new time to beat, which Sergio Perez comes close to doing before nestling in 0.102s back in second.
Magnussen being out early, while most others kick back, is no coincidence. Remember, it was the Dane who triggered the red flags in FP2 by crashing his Haas at the second Lesmo.
Here's what the partisan home fans are here to see. Both Ferraris are out on soft tyres.
Sainz and Leclerc don't trouble the 1m21s bracket however and nestle in at the tail end of the top 10 as Russell becomes the new pacesetter on a 1m21.169s using medium tyres.
But Russell doesn't keep his place at the top of the timesheets for long. Piastri missed out on topping FP2 yesterday with a slide at Ascari, but the Australian makes no such mistake today and becomes the first man to dip into the 1m20s bracket to go fastest on a 1m20.887s.
Ominously, Verstappen improves too and is just 0.063s slower than McLaren's Australian despite running on the medium.
Leclerc now winds in a purposeful 1m21.171s to move into fourth spot, while Hamilton is captured absolutely hammering the kerbs at the first chicane. His Mercedes resembled something of a skateboard there.
Norris takes his turn to go fastest now, lowering the benchmark to a 1m20.787s, only to be instantly beaten by Sainz's 1m20.742s. How dearly the Spaniard would love a win here on his final outing at Monza for Ferrari.
There are improvements everywhere you look at the moment. Now Russell goes top for Mercedes with a 1m20.706s, notably on the mediums. Missing FP1 for his 2025 team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli to have a go (and then crash) in his car, which then cost him 25 minutes of FP2, doesn't appear to be setting Russell back too much here.
Mattia Binnotto’s TV appearance was warmly applauded by the Ferrari fans in the grandstands on the main straight, as I walk up to Turn 1 trackside. Clearly there is still lingering affection for the new Sauber boss, who was ousted from Ferrari at the end of 2022.
There is just 0.081s between the top four as things stand, with Russell heading Sainz, Hamilton and Norris. Close as you like.
We're still yet to see what Max Verstappen can do on the soft tyre, as he didn't get a lap in on the compound he'll use for qualifying in FP2 yesterday and currently sits sixth with a best time on the medium. That will be one to watch later.
Leclerc now elbows his way to the top of the charts, a massive 0.092s quicker than Russell. We jest, of course. That time was set on the softs for Ferrari's Monegasque, relative to the mediums Russell had at his disposal.
Soft runs for Albon and Hulkenberg have them nestling in the tail end of the top 10, splitting Verstappen and Perez - who set their laps right at the start of the session on mediums when track conditions were evidently less grippy than they are now.
Franco Colapinto continues to bed his way into the Williams cockpit vacated by Logan Sargeant. After his gravelly off at the Parabolica yesterday, he's kept things clean and low-key so far, and moves into 13th on softs. That puts him half a second behind Albon.
Down at Turn 2, both Aston Martin drivers are struggling putting the power down on exit. The right rears of the AMR24s are kicking out every time they’re on push laps through here, whereas the rest are planted.
Albon now turns up the wick and storms into the top spot on a 1m20.596s.
We're halfway through FP3, with Albon currently quickest from Leclerc. Fortunes not quite so strong at F1's 'other' Italian team, RB, where Ricciardo and Tsunoda are thoroughly in the midpack.
Esteban Ocon now sets a new personal best, but it's only enough for 17th. He is however still ahead of team-mate Pierre Gasly, who scored his first and so far only win here in that unforgettable 2020 race for AlphaTauri over Sainz's McLaren.
Verstappen continues to pound around on mediums, which to me suggests confidence. He's in no hurry to switch onto the softs for a headline time.
That will be a popular one with the tifosi. Albon is pushed off the top spot by not one, but two Ferraris. Sainz goes quickest on a 1m20.463s, ahead of Leclerc by 0.102s.
Russell has been shuffled back to fourth in the times, but intriguingly he remains the fastest driver though the final sector. Albon's Williams is quickest through sector one, and Sainz's Ferrari in the middle part that contains the Lesmos.
As we enter the final 20 minutes of practice before qualifying, will teams start turning up the engines and throwing sets of softs at their drivers to simulate the flying laps they'll be doing later?
The tell-tale signs of that are flashes of purple on the timing screens, and sure enough Leclerc darts above his team-mate with a 1m20.226s. Will anybody be able to match it?
Colapinto moves into eighth spot, while Alonso improves to tenth. Norris meanwhile is going quickly and sets a new fastest middle sector.
Oof. It was close, but no cigar for Norris who ends up 0.036s behind Leclerc.
Max Verstappen looks to have adjusted his line through Turn 1 as this long run has gone on. He was hitting the apex hard earlier and it was really unsettling the car. Now he's wider and smoother, but it's compromising his approach a bit for Turn 2. The graining problem the teams found was high in FP2 was also making the RB20 go back towards its Zandvoort ill-handling, so that could also be a factor now too.
If you thought the gap between Leclerc and Norris was too small for another car to squeeze into, then think again. Piastri - or should that be Russ Swift? - muscles into P2, missing out on the top spot by 0.026s.
His running on the medium complete, here comes Verstappen on a set of softs for the first time in the session. Will he gatecrash Ferrari's FP3 party?
Yikes, a near-miss there for Leclerc. Piastri slows exiting the second Lesmo and drifts towards the right of the circuit, to which Leclerc had already committed. He puts two wheels onto the grass but keeps control and avoids what could have been a scary moment.
By: Autosport Staff
