George Russell was quickest again in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.
He led Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who almost collided at the Rettifilo chicane in the final minutes of the session.
The incident began after Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase told him he could pass Hamilton as both drivers prepared to start their final laps. Verstappen passed Hamilton heading into Ascari, but the Ferrari driver re-passed him approaching the next corner.
Verstappen immediately tried to re-pass Hamilton on the straight but fell back behind the Ferrari, either out of choice or because his car ran low on energy before his rivals. When they reached the chicane, Verstappen dived down the inside while Hamilton swerved onto the run-off area to avoid contact.
“He caused that,” claimed Verstappen. “I got blocked by Max,” said Hamilton.
The pair were separated by a tenth of a second at the end of the session. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will start the race from the back of the grid due to a power unit change penalty, was fourth-fastest.
Russell was fortunate to emerge from the session without incurring the wrath of the stewards. He clearly held Oscar Piastri up in Lesmo One yet they opted not to investigate. He also had to slam on his brake to avoid crossing the pit exit line when the light turned red at the end of the session.
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Piastri went quickest of all through the first sector but ended up only eighth. His team mate Lando Norris was a tenth of a second quicker and the pair were separated by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and Arvid Lindblad’s rapid Racing Bulls. His usual team mate Liam Lawson was only 12th in his Red Bull.
The two Alpine drivers completed the top 10. The Williams drivers were much lower down and both are under investigation for potential yellow flag infringements.
As the cars’ lack of energy means they are losing significant amounts of speed on the straight, drivers used practice to work out how to best improve their lap times by getting a tow from another driver. Lambiase advised Verstappen “I would not recommend starting the lap closer than five seconds to Stroll” as the Red Bull was gaining around three seconds per lap on the Aston Martin.
Temperatures remained high at the Monza circuit, with the track surface hitting 53C during the session.
Prior to the session Cadillac were fined €30,000, all but €5,000 of which was suspended, but Colton Herta’s Clutch Deactivation System did not operate when his car stopped in first practice.
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2026 Italian Grand Prix third practice result
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2026 Italian Grand Prix
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