George Russell dominated the final free practice at Monza ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Mercedes confirms its speed ahead of qualifying.
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George Russell sent a serious warning to his rivals just hours before the Italian Grand Prix qualifying. The Mercedes driver set the best time in FP3 with 1’22″219, beating Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the end of a session held under increasingly intense heat.
With 30°C in the air and already 50°C on the asphalt at the start of the session, conditions proved particularly demanding. Several teams actually waited before sending their drivers out on track, leaving Alpine and Carlos Sainz to handle most of the activity during the first minutes.
Antonelli quickly sets the tone
Pierre Gasly set the first benchmark at 1’25″349 with medium tires, before lowering it to 1’23″878. His teammate Franco Colapinto then took the lead with 1’23″766 on the same compound.
It took about a quarter of an hour to see the main favorites enter the track. Kimi Antonelli, who will have to start from the back of the grid on Sunday after installing a new power unit on his Mercedes, immediately showed speed.
The Italian posted a 1’23″032 on soft tires to take first place. Mid-session, he maintained the lead with a 0″218 advantage over Charles Leclerc and 0″384 over Gasly.
Meanwhile, Liam Lawson had a scare losing control of his Red Bull in the first chicane. The New Zealander spun, briefly causing yellow flags, but was able to immediately resume his session.
Russell takes the lead thanks to Antonelli
With 25 minutes to go before the checkered flag, Russell went on the attack. The Brit took advantage of a good slipstream offered by Antonelli in the first sector to set a 1’22″687 and take the lead.
Leclerc then settled at 0″226, while Antonelli held third position at 0″345. Russell quickly found more performance and improved his time to 1’22″463, setting the best time of the weekend in the process.
Antonelli, however, did not give up. The championship leader gradually reduced his gap until he was only 0″117 behind his teammate, once again confirming the competitiveness of Mercedes on the Italian track.
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Traffic, however, complicated the programs of several drivers. Oscar Piastri notably got annoyed after being hindered during his attempts, in a session where finding a clear track window proved particularly difficult.
Hamilton closes in, Verstappen regains speed
Lewis Hamilton also seemed to have the pace necessary to fight for the top spots. The Ferrari driver had set the best first sector when a off-track by Sergio Pérez between the two Lesmos forced him to abort his attempt.
The seven-time world champion finally managed to complete a clean lap in the final minutes. He climbed to second position, 0″226 behind Russell.
Max Verstappen also regained form after a difficult Friday. The Red Bull driver settled in third place, 0″350 behind the Mercedes, confirming that the Austrian team had found some improvements after the work done overnight.
Charles Leclerc, particularly competitive since the start of the weekend, however, failed to join the top three in the very last minutes.
Russell finishes with an impressive benchmark
With less than five minutes remaining, Russell delivered the final blow by improving his time once again. His 1’22″219 allowed him to finish the session on top and keep more than two tenths ahead of Hamilton.
The Brit’s end of session was not perfect, however. Russell caused significant interference to Piastri in the first Lesmo, an incident that particularly disrupted the McLaren driver in his preparation.
In terms of pure performance, the message sent by Mercedes is nevertheless clear. After already finishing on top in FP2 on Friday, Russell confirms that the W17 seems particularly comfortable at Monza.
Just hours before qualifying, Russell thus appears as one of the main favorites for pole position. Hamilton and Verstappen remain close enough to hope to threaten him, while Ferrari and Antonelli have also shown a pace capable of reshuffling the cards when engines are pushed to their maximum.
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FP3 standings for the 2026 Italian GP F1:
