George Russell sets pace as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen clash in final Monza F1 practice
Mercedes man George Russell led the way in final practice at F1’s Italian Grand Prix.
George Russell once again topped the Formula 1 timesheets in final practice at the Italian Grand Prix for Mercedes as he outpaced Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
The Briton was in imposing form in FP3 as he ended up 0.226 seconds faster than his former Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, while Max Verstappen took third in his Red Bull, 0.350s adrift.
Mercedes appears the team to beat heading into qualifying, with Russell looking to capitalise on an engine penalty for team-mate and direct title rival Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.
Former F1 title rivals Hamilton and Verstappen clashed right at the end of the session as they battled for track position, with the pair going wheel-to-wheel down the main start finish straight.
Both had to abort their final laps after Verstappen dived down the inside of Hamilton at the first chicane, forcing the seven-time world champion to take to the run-off area.
“Yeah he caused that,” an unimpressed Verstappen reported over team radio, while Hamilton claimed he was “blocked” in an incident that had shades of their 2021 collision at the same corner.
Antonelli was fourth-fastest in the second Mercedes ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, who did not get a representative lap in at the end of FP3 after aborting one of his qualifying simulation laps on the soft tyre.
A strong lap from Arvid Lindblad put the Racing Bulls driver seventh, ahead of Oscar Piastri, who had another tricky practice in his McLaren.
The top-10 was completed by the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto.
Nico Hulkenberg took 11th in his Audi, ahead of Red Bull's Liam Lawson and Audi team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto in 13th.
Ollie Bearman was 14th in the only Haas car fitted with Ferrari's upgraded engine, while Yuki Tsunoda was 15th in his Racing Bulls.
Carlos Sainz finished 16th ahead of the second Haas of Esteban Ocon and Williams team-mate Alex Albon.
The two Aston Martins finished either side of the Cadillacs, with Fernando Alonso once again taking 19th and Lance Stroll ending up slowest.
Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix gets underway at 3pm UK time.
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