Mercedes duo lead final charge ahead of qualifying in Monza

Ahead of an extremely tight qualifying session, Mercedes topped the tables during FP3 at the Italian Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc providing a glimpse of hope for the Tifosi in third-fastest.

It was a quiet start to the final hour of practice in Monza, with drivers bunkered down in their garages for much other opening 10 minutes.

First to act, Red Bull sent both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez out onto the primarily empty circuit with the medium compound tyre for ammunition. 

Verstappen’s 1:21.560s became the time to beat, with his competitors quickly rolling out of the pitlane just moments later.

One of five drivers to leave the pitlane as the light went green, Daniel Ricciardo kicked off the session with an exploratory out-lap.

He promptly returned to the pitlane, waiting 20 minutes before recording the tenth-fastest time, a 1:21:669s which put him just over a second behind the then-benchmark.

But, his time out on track was again short-lived, with the Australian retreating from the sunny circuit for the foreseeable future. 

When he did rejoin the session, Ricciardo moved into P11, still sitting 0.960 seconds behind the 1:20.117s benchmark set by Lewis Hamilton.

The action came for the Australian just minutes later as he became a contributor/spectator in an impeding incident between Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri on the run to Ascari, letting out a sigh of relief as the two drivers avoided a near-collision to let him by.

As the session came to a close, P12 was Ricciardo’s to keep, with his time of 1:21.077s being his quickest of the hour, notably ahead of his teammate. 

Recording a purple middle sector on his first attempt of the session, Oscar Piastri recorded a 1:20.887s on his maiden soft tyre run which placed him at the top of the order.

Going again at the halfway mark, Piastri’s second run was wasted after the #81 ran wide in the gravel at the second Lesmo. 

He took time to recover from the slip-up, falling down the timing sheets to seventh place before launching an attack later in the session. 

The run rewarded him with a marginal second place, sitting one hundredth ahead of his teammate, and just two hundredths behind Leclerc with a time of 1:20.252s.

That wasn’t the only marginal gap between the #81 and #16, with the duo involved in two impeding incidents in the span of a few kilometres — the first coming at the first corner as Leclerc held up the McLaren driver, and the second almost ending with the Ferrari in the wall after Piastri’s attention was focus on letting Ricciardo by.

With Ricciardo deeming the moment “a mess”, the incident involving the three drivers was to be investigated after the session.

Running wide on his next attempt, Piastri aborted the lap and returned to the pitlane until it was time to emerge for the final practice start on the grid. 

Launching off the line, the Australian’s final standing in FP3 was P4, 0.135 seconds off the top time.

As the heart of the action began to beat, it was a mixed front order as the top four times were occupied by drivers from four different teams, with McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes all taking turns at holding P1.

The Lesmos proved a tough task for all experience levels with rookie Franco Colapinto and multiple race-winners George Russell, Max Verstappen and Piastri all sliding into a near-meeting with the gravel trap. 

The newest addition to the Williams lineup took the corner much better on his next tour around the circuit, setting the thirteen fastest lap with just 30 minutes left in the session.

Meanwhile, his teammate, Alex Albon, skyrocketed to the fastest time, demoting the home favourite after setting a benchmark of 1:20.596s. 

Willed on by the sea of red Tifosi, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc reverted the order, pushing their C5s to the max as they momentarily claimed P1 and P2 from the Williams driver.

Both the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers were audibly unhappy over the radio, even with Russell and Hamilton sealing the top spots in the later stages of FP3. 

As George Russell finished his P2-earning run, the #63 had many complaints regarding the balance of his Mercedes.

Not so lucky on the timing sheets, Verstappen’s inability to turn the RB20 in Zandvoort had carried over to Monza, with the Dutchman reporting similar struggles in mid-speed corners.

His teammate also struggled, with Perez sliding at the first turn and speeding across the run-off at Turn 4 before aborting the lap.

Mercedes finished FP3 in P1 and P2, however, Toto Wolff warned not to believe the timing sheets while naming Piastri and Leclerc as the drivers to watch in qualifying. 

The latter rounded out the top three, with Leclerc sitting a then back on his future teammate’s 1:20.117s.

The session didn’t end without drama, as Kevin Magnussen broke down on the run to Ascari during his post-chequered flag in-lap after succumbing to a gearbox issue.

The issue will see the Haas mechanics tasked with changing the gearbox ahead of qualifying, a tricky task to complete with just two hours to go.

Along with Ricciardo, Piastri and Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll joined them as drivers under investigation as they both failed to follow the Race Director’s instructions after rejoining the track in an incorrect manner.

A nervously tight qualifying session will kick off at midnight, with pole position to be decided in just a few hours’ time. 

Free Practice 3 Results:

Image: Simon Galloway / LAT Images

2024 Italian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, August 30th:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, August 31st:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, September 1st:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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