2024 F1 Italian Grand Prix, Round 16, FP3: Hamilton leads again with a 1:20.117, just 0.145s covers the top five, Verstappen only sixth

Third free practice for the 2024 F1 Italian Grand Prix got under way in the early evening of August 31, China Standard Time (UTC+8). Hamilton continued his strong form, topping the times again with a 1:20.117, followed closely by teammate Russell, 0.093 seconds behind. The top five drivers were separated by a mere 0.145 seconds. Leclerc was third on home ground, with McLaren’s Piastri and Norris fourth and fifth respectively; Yuki Tsunoda was 13th, while Red Bull were heading into qualifying on the back foot.

Verstappen, the winner at Monza in each of the past two years, struggled with understeer in low- and medium-speed corners and finished practice sixth, 0.251 seconds off the pace. Teammate Pérez struggled even more, placing only 18th—he braked too late at the della Roggia chicane and went straight on, with Stroll following close behind and doing the same. Ferrari continued to look competitive on home soil, with Sainz still seventh despite a slight drop in pace.

Outside the leading four teams, Albon produced a stunning lap to finish eighth, while rookie Colapinto made further progress in ninth, putting both Williams cars in the top ten; Hülkenberg beat Alonso to tenth, with the midfield fight behind Sainz just as intense.

Yuki Tsunoda had a relatively uneventful day. After the double blow of a set-up error and a red flag the previous day, he finished this session 13th, 0.064 seconds behind teammate Ricciardo. The RB car still lacked the single-lap pace to challenge the front-runners. Behind Alonso and Ricciardo, Gasly, Stroll, Magnussen and Ocon occupied 14th to 17th respectively.

There was also an incident: Magnussen’s team instructed him to stop his Haas immediately at the side of the track. The stoppage was officially confirmed to be due to a technical fault, though the exact cause had yet to be established. Pérez was 18th, Bottas 19th and Zhou Guanyu last in 20th. Qualifying will begin at 22:00 China Standard Time (UTC+8) that evening.