FP3: Hamilton leads Russell in Mercedes one-two during final practice at Monza

Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the third and final practice hour ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, with the seven-time champion leading team mate George Russell to form a Mercedes one-two at the top of the timesheets – on the same day the team announced that Kimi Antonelli would partner Russell for 2025.

After some disruption during Friday’s practice – due to red flags being thrown in both sessions after crashes for Antonelli and Kevin Magnussen respectively – the drivers returned to action for FP3 at 1230 local time as they looked to carry out final preparations prior to qualifying later in the day.

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Several cars had the hard tyres bolted on for their initial laps, with the teams seemingly keen to gather data on the compound that was only used by Yuki Tsunoda on Friday. Magnussen, meanwhile, went straight to the soft tyre runs after his limited running in FP2, before Max Verstappen set an early benchmark on the medium rubber.

Another driver keen to make up for lost time was Russell, whose programme was delayed in FP2 as the Mercedes team worked to repair the damage sustained to his car in Antonelli’s FP1 crash. The Briton quickly went fastest when he joined the fray in FP3 on the medium tyre.

This did not last for long, however, as the track evolution ramped up and the times continued to tumble. Charles Leclerc went fastest via his effort of 1m 20.614s as the soft-shod flying laps came in, much to the delight of the Ferrari fans watching on.

As was the case on Friday, the margins again looked incredibly fine throughout the field, with the top five within just over a tenth and a half of one another following the initial fast runs. Alex Albon proved the point further by slotting into P1 at the halfway point by just 0.018s from Leclerc.

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Amid the second run of flying laps, Leclerc, Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo were noted for a potential impeding incident. Replays showed Leclerc having to take avoiding action as the McLaren tried to make room for the RB, leaving the Monegasque unhappy as he dipped a wheel on the grass.

Elsewhere, Hamilton had gone fastest on a time of 1m 20.117s, leading the way by only 0.093s from team mate Russell. Leclerc was one tenth away from Hamilton’s effort in third, followed by the McLarens of Piastri and Lando Norris.

Verstappen ended the hour in sixth – having complained about his Red Bull not turning during the session – ahead of Sainz in seventh. Albon and new team mate Franco Colapinto put in a good showing for Williams in eighth and ninth respectively, while Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 for Haas.

Fernando Alonso was 11th fastest in the Aston Martin, with Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll taking the positions from 12th through to 15th.

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Magnussen took P16 as he worked to make up for his lost mileage in FP2, putting him ahead of Esteban Ocon for Alpine in P17 – although there were concerns at Haas after Magnussen was forced to stop out on track after the chequered flag – while Sergio Perez was down in P18 for Red Bull.

And after a positive day on Friday, Kick Sauber’s Saturday did not begin in such a good fashion, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu bringing up the rear, with their progress watched on by the team’s former driver Kimi Raikkonen.

With the final practice session of the weekend complete, attentions will now turn to qualifying which is set to take place later today at 1600 local time.