The final free practice session for the 2024 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at the 5.793-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale Monza has concluded, with the teams getting closer to one of the most contested qualifying sessions of the season. After Friday’s sessions, the performance picture is still unclear, but the last session has helped to further clarify things. Let’s find out what happened in FP3 of the Italian GP in Monza through our summary.
First half-hour
The two Stake cars immediately took to the track to tackle the final practice session of the Monza GP. They were followed by the two Aston Martins and Ricciardo’s VCARB. More aerodynamic tests for the AMR24, with plenty of flow-viz on the rear wing.
The first to set a time was Kevin Magnussen, who with 1:21.778 started to set the pace. He was immediately surpassed by Max Verstappen, who lowered the benchmark to 1:21.560 on yellow tires. His teammate Sergio Perez followed closely behind.
All the drivers began trading fast laps, with times dropping steadily. After the first round, Oscar Piastri topped the timesheet, followed closely by Max Verstappen on his second attempt with yellow tires. Leclerc, on his fifth lap with the same set of red tires, managed to place himself in 5th position despite using a worn set.
After 10 minutes, Carlos Sainz unleashed the power and gained 3 tenths in the first sector compared to Norris. George Russell and Hamilton quickly responded. Charles Leclerc, on a used set of red tires with 5 laps on them, responded by taking first place ahead of Russell.
Summary of the second half-hour of FP3 Monza
Incredible performance by Alex Albon, who puts himself ahead of everyone with a time of 1:20.596, edging out Charles Leclerc by just a few thousandths.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen has changed his work plan and is focusing on race pace simulation. Russell is also following with a race pace simulation, posting some rather interesting initial times. After their fast lap attempts on red tires, the two Ferrari SF-24 cars went back on track for another qualifying simulation.
Some adjustments in the garage benefited Ferrari’s lap times. In fact, despite the worn tires used earlier, both drivers managed to improve. George Russell continues to surprise with Mercedes in the race pace simulation, testing the second part of the race and reaching the sixth lap with times around 1:23.
Charles Leclerc impresses
With 10 laps on the tires, he further improved his lap time, getting close to the 2023 pole time. Lando Norris improved on his second attempt with new red tires but couldn’t surpass a fantastic Charles Leclerc.
Everyone fitted new tires, and the final push lap session began. The two Mercedes moved ahead of everyone, but only by a tenth compared to Charles Leclerc. Many other drivers had to abort their laps due to traffic, forcing them to cancel their attempts on new tires. Red Bull is struggling significantly, unable to rotate the car properly in medium and low-speed corners.
Result Free practice 3 – Italian
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Tyre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |   Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:20.117 |  |
| 2 |  George Russell | Mercedes | 1:20.210 | |
| 3 |   Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:20.226 | |
| 4 |   Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:20.252 | |
| 5 |  Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:20.262 | |
| 6 |   Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:20.368 | |
| 7 |   Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:20.463 | |
| 8 |   Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:20.596 | |
| 9 |   Franco Colapinto | Williams | 1:20.905 | |
| 10 |   Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:20.943 | |
| 11 |  Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:20.968 |  |
| 12 |  Daniel Ricciardo | VCARB | 1:21.077 | |
| 13 |   Yuki Tsunoda | VCARB | 1:21.141 |  |
| 14 |   Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:21.155 | |
| 15 |   Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:21.157 | |
| 16 |   KevinMagnussen | Haas | 1:21.208 | |
| 17 |  Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:21.258 | |
| 18 |   Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1:21.287 | |
| 19 |   Valtteri Bottas | Stake | 1:21.357 | |
| 20 |   Guanyu Zhou | Stake | 1:22.035 | |
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