Italian Grand Prix: F1 Free Practice 3 Results

Italian Grand Prix: F1 Free Practice 3 Results

Monza hosts today’s Free Practice 3 session for round 16 of the championship

Hannah May 4 min read

Verstappen and Hamilton topped yesterday’s FP1 and FP2 sessions, but who will perform in Free Practice 3?

Aston Martin Free Practice 3 Italian Grand Prix
Aston Martin gears up for Free Practice 3 in Monza for the 2024 Italian Grand Prix. (Image Credit: @AstonMartinF1 on X)

The first of the weekend’s practice sessions saw two new faces on the grid. Following the announcement from Williams earlier this week that Logan Sargeant would be replaced for the rest of the season, Alex Albon’s newest teammate, Franco Colapinto made his Formula 1 debut.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli also made an FP1 appearance for Mercedes, using George Russell’s W15. Unfortunately, the session did not end well for the young Italian. He crashed into the barriers, damaging the front wing and triggering a Red Flag.

However, the F2 driver’s mistake did not alter Mercedes’ announcement earlier today. It was announced that Antonelli will join the Mercedes Formula 1 team in 2025 for a seat alongside Russell.

The top three in FP1 were Max Verstappen in P1, Charles Leclerc in P2, and Lando Norris in P3.

A Red Flag was also shown during the second practice session in Monza. Haas driver, Kevin Magnussen span into the barriers at the exit of Lesmo Two. Lewis Hamilton in P1, Norris in P2, and Carlos Sainz in P3 topped FP2.

Lights out for Free Practice 3

Valtteri Bottas was the first car on the circuit in his green Sauber. Bottas was joined by his teammate, Zhou Guanyu. Fernando Alonso was next out in the Aston Martin, opting to use the hard compound tyres. His teammate, Lance Stroll joined him on an early run.

Kevin Magnussen was the first to set a quick lap. His lap time was 1:21.774 with the soft compound tyres on his Haas, putting him on top of the leaderboard.

Verstappen was the next driver on his flying lap, finishing with 1:21.560 on the board with medium compound tyres. His teammate, Sergio Perez was next to clock a time. The Mexican Red Bull driver finished 0.102 seconds behind Verstappen. The replay showed a piece fly off the back of Perez’s car during his lap.

Two familiar faces were spotted in the garage – former F1 driver, Kimi RГ¤ikkГ¶nen and former Ferrari Team Principal,В?Mattia Binotto.

Battle for P1

With 46 minutes remaining, Oscar Piastri put his McLaren into the P1 spot with a 1:20.887 lap time. The Australian driver opted for the soft compound tyres. In P2 was Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers put in P3 and P4 times, Russell ahead of Hamilton. Hamilton cut the kerb during his next lap.

At their home race, the Ferrari drivers were out on track in front of the Tifosi. Leclerc’s time was good enough for P10, but on his next hot lap reached P4. His teammate, Sainz was in P8.

Norris was the next driver to top the timesheet with a lap time of 1:20.767. He was then beaten by Sainz but shortly after Sainz was topped by Russell.

Colapinto went wide into the gravel during his lap. Likewise, Russell lost the back of his Mercedes and kicked the rear wheels into the gravel trap.

Leclerc set the fastest lap of the session with a time of 1:20.614 on the soft compound tyres.

Halfway point

As the drivers reached the halfway point of Free Practice 3 at the Temple of Speed, the top 10 were Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Norris, Piastri, Verstappen, Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, and Perez.

With just under 30 minutes remaining, Albon put in a lap time of 1:20.596 on the soft compound tyres, putting himself on top. Meanwhile, Piastri went slightly wide into the gravel, kicking up dust. Later, Verstappen had a similar moment in the same place.

Verstappen complained on the radio that the Mercedes of Hamilton was on the racing line. However, his Race Engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase told him that was normal on the straight.

Hamilton and Sainz were the next drivers on another hot lap. The seven-time world champion set yellow sectors, while Sainz’s Sector 2 was purple. Hamilton finished in P5 and Sainz in P1 with a time of 1:20.463. Sainz was joined at the top of the timesheet by his teammate, Leclerc in P2.

Meanwhile, Perez cut the corner on his lap.

Closing stages

With 15 minutes remaining of FP3, Leclerc beat his teammate’s time with a 1:20.226. Rookie Colapinto was in P8 in the Williams.�Norris was out and set a purple Sector 2, completing his lap with a 1:20.262 time splitting the Ferraris.

Race Control noted a potential impeding incident at Turn 7 involving Piastri, Daniel Ricciardo, and Leclerc. Piastri then bettered his teammate’s time, setting a P2-worthy time just 0.026 seconds behind Leclerc.

The Silver Arrows and Verstappen were the next drivers on their hot lap. Russell crossed the line in P1 and was then topped by Hamilton with a 1:20.117.

Verstappen’s lap put him in P6 and complained that his car was not turning in properly.

Meanwhile, his teammate, Perez struggled with a lack of grip in P15. He cut the corner and went off at the Variante della Roggia chicane.

Then, Race Control noted Stroll for not following the Race Director’s instruction, and re-joining the circuit earlier than he should have after going off in the same place as Perez.

In a redemption attempt, Verstappen was back out on track with 30 seconds left on the clock. He set a green Sector 1 and was suffering from understeer. The reigning world champion set a yellow second sector and crossed the line with a purple Sector 3 for P6. His time was slower than his previous lap.

At the end of the session, Hamilton was the fastest driver in Free Practice 3 in Monza. He was joined in the top three by Russell in P2 and Leclerc in P3.

Before he could return to the pits, Magnussen was told to stop his Haas and pulled over at the side of the track in the run down to Ascari.

Free Practice 3 classification

Featured Image Credit:В?@ScuderiaFerrari on X

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This website is unofficial and is not associated in any way with the Formula 1 companies. F1, FORMULA ONE, FORMULA 1, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX and related marks are trade marks of Formula One Licensing B.V.

Zeen is a next generation WordPress theme. It’s powerful, beautifully designed and comes with everything you need to engage your visitors and increase conversions.

Zeen Subscribe
A customizable subscription slide-in box to promote your newsletter
[mc4wp_form id="314"]