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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A slightly muted effort then from Verstappen, who goes into sixth spot with his first run on softs, a 1m20.368. That puts him 0.251s behind new pacesetter Hamilton, who edges ahead of Russell and Leclerc with a 1m20.117s.
That near-miss we referenced earlier involving Piastri and Leclerc will be investigated after the session, which has less than 10 minutes to go.
A quirky story for you now, as it emerges that Andrea Kimi Antonelli has beaten Jack Doohan in the race to secure their preferred race numbers next year. You can read more about that here.
Williams went very well at Monza in 2022, you may recall, when Albon was sidelined and substitute Nyck de Vries scored points on his debut. Could Colapinto repeat that feat? He's up in ninth, one spot behind Albon as things stand.
Stroll has been noted for not following the race director's instructions after an off at the second chicane. He came back onto the track too early having sailed off at the left-hand part and skipped over the brief strip of gravel that separates the circuit from the run-off area.
Perez has also been noted for the same thing. It's been a quiet session for the Mexican, whose best time has him 16th in the order as things stand.
Verstappen has returned to the track in the closing minutes with a set of softs. Time for one more flyer after some set-up tweaks?
The chequered flag is out, so this will be the final opportunity for anyone looking to lay down a marker before qualifying.
No improvement there from Verstappen, who is three tenths off his personal best despite setting the fastest final sector of all.
It's a similar story for Leclerc, who was faster in his first sector but slower around the rest of the lap, so he remains third as Mercedes head the way in FP3 courtesy of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Late improvements from Stroll, Magnussen and Ocon push Perez down to 18th by the end of the session, with the Mexican ahead only of the Saubers driven by Bottas and Zhou.
It was no surprise to Alex Kalinauckas that Norris and Leclerc weren't improving towards the end of that session, from his vantage point trackside. He tells us:
“Norris and Leclerc were really pushing the limit of what their cars could take at Turn 1. Older tyres will be a factor, but both carried too much speed between the apexes and were too pinched on Turn 2’s inside - with Leclerc even bouncing on the big orange inside kerb too. Just bleeding lap time.”
Oh dear, it looks as though Haas mechanics may have some extra work to do before qualifying.
Colapinto meanwhile has been noted for a practice start infringement, which he will put down to experience. Better to get any issues out of the way today, then doing it for real tomorrow.
So, what's next? Following a short break, Qualifying gets going at 3pm BST this afternoon. You'll be able to follow all the updates from that session on our live blog here. In the meantime, there will be plenty of news to keep an eye out for on the website, including more insight and reaction into the Mercedes decision to sign Andrea Kimi Antonelli for next season.
Mercedes has been burned before by lifting its hopes after strong showings in practice, but could today be a different story? The last time a Mercedes started on pole at Monza was in 2020, but Lewis Hamilton has plenty of fire in his belly to put on a good show for the Italian fans he'll represent next year in Ferrari colours.
In case you missed any of the action and aren't a fan of scrolling, then why not take a minute or two to read the full report from FP3, topped by Hamilton from George Russell, here.
We're going to shut this live page down now but do join us this afternoon, from shortly before 3pm BST, for live qualifying updates here. We look forward to you joining us later but, until then, it's goodbye from me and thanks for following along!
By: Autosport Staff
