Ferrari still has work to do before qualifying at Monza. The SF-26 showed considerable potential during FP3 at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix, but Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were not consistently able to extract it over a complete lap. Set-up refinements and changes to the hybrid mapping are therefore expected before the session that will determine the grid.
The objective for Saturday is clear: Ferrari needs another step forward. In front of the Tifosi, the Maranello team must prepare particularly carefully for qualifying after an FP3 session in which the car’s underlying performance appeared stronger than its overall drivability. The complete Monza FP3 classification underlined how close the leading battle remains, making the final set-up decisions especially important.
Ferrari Monza FP3 starts with the SF-26 still difficult to exploit
It took around 15 minutes before the two Ferraris left the garage. Both cars headed onto the circuit on the red-walled Pirelli Soft tyres, allowing Ferrari to reproduce qualifying conditions as closely as possible. The aim was to build confidence with the car and identify the most effective handling characteristics before the decisive afternoon session.
Charles Leclerc immediately looked relatively comfortable, starting his programme with precise driving. The same could not initially be said for Lewis Hamilton, who had already been targeting a Ferrari set-up improvement ahead of Saturday following the work carried out overnight.
On his first flying lap, Lewis Hamilton looked slightly untidy and put his wheels into the gravel at Lesmo. Carlos Santi took note of the Ferrari driver’s feeling and suggested improving the mid-corner phase at Turn 7. The same applied to Turn 1, where a slightly lower entry speed was required to favour acceleration on the exit. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, received only a few instructions concerning the usual brake and differential settings.
Both drivers then completed a double cool-down lap. Charles Leclerc did not request any front-wing adjustment and instead passed through the pit lane to carry out a practice start. Lewis Hamilton took a different approach, preferring a change in front-end load to give the SF-26 greater stability.
When the Ferraris returned to the circuit for another attempt, Charles Leclerc immediately ran deep into Turn 1 and locked the right-front tyre badly enough to create a flat spot. Lewis Hamilton completed his lap and, despite once again touching the gravel, this time at the Roggia chicane, improved on his previous time.
Charles Leclerc launched another attempt shortly afterwards, but his driving was less clean than earlier. Compared with Friday, the handling of both Ferraris did not appear to have improved as much as the team had hoped. That was particularly notable after the SF-26 had displayed encouraging characteristics during Ferrari’s Friday Monza performance and energy-deployment analysis.
Ferrari works to stabilise the SF-26 rear end in FP3
During the in-laps, the drivers received a long sequence of instructions about how to manage individual corners. Ferrari was trying to help Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc optimise the SF-26’s performance and understand where the car could be driven differently.
After a brief stop in the garage, both Ferraris returned to the track, again using the Soft compound. One characteristic was becoming increasingly apparent: the rear of the SF-26 appeared to move around too much under braking, making life more difficult for both drivers.
At the same time, the Ferrari remained very effective through the middle of the corners, suggesting that the overall aerodynamic load level was certainly not excessively low. The challenge was therefore to find a better balance without sacrificing the strengths already present in the car.
Ferrari consequently carried out considerable work with the brake balance. Moving the setting further towards the front axle can calm the rear of the car because it reduces the percentage of the braking effort being demanded from the rear tyres.
Lewis Hamilton also discussed the tyres over the radio, feeling that at this stage of FP3 they were not operating in the correct working window. That issue was reflected in his lap times, with the British driver running approximately two tenths behind Charles Leclerc at that point in the session.
For both Ferrari drivers, Turn 1 remained an area requiring further work. The two SF-26s continued to show some difficulty through that section, leaving Ferrari searching for a compromise that could improve braking stability without damaging acceleration on the exit.
Tyre warm-up becomes crucial for Ferrari’s final qualifying simulations
With around 10 minutes remaining, there was still enough time for another qualifying simulation on the red-walled Pirelli tyres. This time, however, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were given completely new sets of Softs.
The Ferrari drivers again worked extensively on bringing temperature into the front axle during the warm-up lap. It was an important procedure because the tyres had a tendency to cool significantly, making it essential to prepare them correctly before beginning the flying lap.
Lewis Hamilton initially launched his attempt but had to lift because of traffic. It was unfortunate timing, as the British driver had been particularly strong through Turn 1. Charles Leclerc, by contrast, completed his lap with a generally clean performance across the full circuit.
Even so, the Monegasque remained around two and a half tenths behind George Russell’s Mercedes. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was much closer, sitting ahead of Charles Leclerc by only 12 thousandths of a second.
Lewis Hamilton then prepared for another attempt. This time he improved, helped especially by a very strong first sector in which he recorded the fastest intermediate time. Ferrari’s performance through the opening part of the lap once again suggested that the SF-26 possessed significant underlying speed.
Ferrari has Monza pace but cannot maximise the SF-26 over one lap
Charles Leclerc also tried once more, but not before expressing frustration about the large number of parameters he needed to manage in order to extract the maximum from the car. He was unable to improve his lap time and further complaints followed.
The picture at the end of FP3 was therefore relatively clear. Ferrari appears to have substantial potential in the SF-26, but the team is still struggling to exploit all of it consistently. The challenge is less about finding one dramatic weakness and more about getting several interconnected areas – braking stability, tyre preparation, corner entry and the car’s overall balance – to work together during the same lap.
Ferrari’s Monza package also has to combine that chassis balance with the Power Unit and electrical-energy requirements of Formula 1’s high-speed Italian circuit. The Scuderia arrived at its home Grand Prix with significant technical attention on the Ferrari ADUO-2 Power Unit development, while Charles Leclerc had already assessed the team’s engine and floor upgrades for the Italian Grand Prix.
That is the lasting impression from the third free practice session at Monza. Ferrari’s proverbial blanket appears slightly too short: improving one area risks exposing another, preventing Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc from optimising the SF-26 across an entire qualifying lap.
Ferrari may therefore need something special to challenge an exceptionally strong Mercedes over one lap. And the threat does not end there, because Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are unquestionably part of the fight as qualifying approaches at the Italian Grand Prix.
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