Lewis Hamilton led the way in the third and final practice session ahead of the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, topping the timesheets with teammate George Russell close behind, securing a Mercedes one-two. This came on the same day the team announced Kimi Antonelli would partner with Russell for the 2025 season.
Friday’s practice sessions were interrupted by red flags following crashes involving Antonelli and Kevin Magnussen, but the drivers returned to the track for FP3 at 12:30 local time to complete their final preparations before qualifying.
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Several teams started the session with hard tyres, aiming to gather data on a compound that only Yuki Tsunoda had used the previous day. Magnussen, due to limited running in FP2, opted for soft tyres early on. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen set an initial benchmark on medium tyres.
George Russell, eager to recover from lost time in FP2 due to repairs on his car after Antonelli’s FP1 crash, quickly posted the fastest lap on medium tyres once he joined the session. However, as the track conditions improved and times dropped, Charles Leclerc took the lead with a 1m 20.614s lap on soft tyres, thrilling the Ferrari fans.
The session saw extremely close times, with the top five drivers separated by just over a tenth and a half after the first set of fast laps. Alex Albon briefly moved to P1, edging out Leclerc by just 0.018s.
During the second set of flying laps, there was a notable incident involving Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, and Daniel Ricciardo. Replays showed Leclerc taking evasive action as the McLaren tried to make space for the approaching RB, causing Leclerc to momentarily run onto the grass.
Ultimately, Hamilton reclaimed the top spot with a time of 1m 20.117s, narrowly ahead of Russell by 0.093s. Leclerc was third, a tenth off Hamilton’s pace, followed by McLaren’s Piastri and Lando Norris. Verstappen finished sixth, expressing frustration over his Red Bull’s handling, while Carlos Sainz took seventh. Williams’ Albon and his new teammate Franco Colapinto impressed in eighth and ninth, with Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten for Haas.
Fernando Alonso was 11th for Aston Martin, followed by Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, and Lance Stroll in positions 12 to 15. Magnussen ended up 16th as he aimed to make up for lost track time, ahead of Esteban Ocon in 17th. Haas had concerns after Magnussen was forced to stop on track after the session ended, while Sergio Perez struggled down in 18th for Red Bull.
Kick Sauber’s Saturday was less positive after a strong Friday, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finishing at the back, their efforts observed by former team driver Kimi Raikkonen.
Italian GP FP3 Results
2024 Italian Grand Prix FP3, 31 August 2024
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