The third practice session offered the drivers a very last chance to prepare as well as possible for qualifying and the race. Especially Lance Stroll wanted to get on track as soon as possible. The Canadian hadn’t driven a single decent lap yet, after a technical problem during the second practice session. During the first practice session, he had given up his car to test and reserve driver Felipe Drugovich.
On Friday, Carlos Sainz had set the fastest time, which undoubtedly made Ferrari fans dream of a strong result in qualifying and the race. All drivers had to find the limits of the track and their car as best they could on the high-speed circuit. Lewis Hamilton experienced that this is not easy even for a seven-time F1 champion.
In recent years we have seen a lot of ‘traffic’ problems on the Monza circuit. We also often saw ‘tactical games’ during qualifying, with deliberately very slow driving at the end of a qualifying section. This practice session showed that the same problems can be feared during qualifying.
With a few minutes left on the clock, Valtteri Bottas went through the gravel trap in the Alfa Romeo F1 car. Not ideal, but otherwise it remained without serious consequences.
In the end, Carlos Sainz was again the fastest in the Ferrari, but Max Verstappen was only a handful of thousandths behind Sainz. The rest of the field followed by more than half a second. Will Carlos Sainz and Ferrari surprise by taking pole position for the Italian GP?
01 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:20.912 23
02 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:20.988 23
03 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:21.456 23
04 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:21.486 23
05 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:21.711 24
06 George Russell Mercedes 1:21.730 25
07 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:21.884 21
08 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:21.985 27
09 Alex Albon Williams 1:22.054 18
10 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:22.192 16
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:22.245 31
12 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri 1:22.296 29
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:22.297 28
14 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:22.302 17
15 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:22.380 23
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:22.511 30
17 Lando Norris McLaren 1:22.515 24
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:22.739 20
19 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo 1:22.742 30
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:22.852 22
More F1 news:– Max Verstappen fined for ‘driving too fast’– Lewis Hamilton on contract extension: “I’m not looking for revenge”– This incredible amount will earn Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes– Mercedes motorsport boss: Lewis Hamilton is F1’s biggest star– FIA takes extra measures against teams cheating with ‘flexible wings’
(F1journaal.be)