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F1 Italian GP: Hamilton leads Russell in final practice

Lewis Hamilton headlined the final free practice session of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, 0.093 seconds clear of Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate George Russell.

In a closely contested session, in which the top six were all within a quarter of a second, the two Mercedes cars displaced Charles Leclerc from the leaderboard's zenith in their final fresh soft-tyre runs in preparation for qualifying.

Amid the opening runs, the times swiftly entered the 1m20s bracket, opened by Oscar Piastri on softs, but further improvements continued to emerge throughout the opening first half of Saturday practice; Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Russell, and Leclerc all spent periods on top as the opening 30 minutes closed.

Alex Albon then went fastest after the first half-hour had elapsed, going 0.018s quicker than Leclerc's benchmark on the soft tyres, before Sainz captured a 1m20.463s lap to end the Williams driver's five minutes atop the order.

Leclerc set a 1m20.226s on his next effort, a time that looked to be under threat from Norris on the McLaren driver's next run, but the Briton lost time in the final sector. Piastri then went 0.01s quicker than Norris, subsequently facing a near-tangle with Leclerc on the exit of the second Lesmo.

The Mercedes duo then swept to the top, Russell posting a 1m20.210s before Hamilton found a tenth on his team-mate to go fastest - Russell reporting that his lap felt "pretty rubbish" by comparison.

Regardless, it was good enough to remain as the second-best lap, 0.016s faster than Leclerc's third fastest time.

The two McLarens were fourth and fifth, Piastri retaining his one-hundredth advantage over Norris, while Max Verstappen was a tenth further back.

Verstappen echoed his usual concerns that the "car doesn't turn in the low-speed, medium-speed" corners, and fluffed his final attempt having struggled through the Lesmos - although capped it off with a fastest final sector. By comparison, team-mate Sergio Perez was down in 18th.

Carlos Sainz was seventh in the order, ahead of the Williams duo; Albon was eighth, while new team-mate Franco Colapinto was 0.3s behind but nonetheless stood ninth in the final order. Nico Hulkenberg was 10th quickest, albeit with the fastest opening sector of the session.

Kevin Magnussen was asked to stop his Haas on track at the end of the session with an unspecified problem, and the Dane pulled up on the run to Ascari.

   
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Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h
1 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes 20

1'20.117

  260.304
2 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 24

+0.093

1'20.210

0.093 260.002
3 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 22

+0.109

1'20.226

0.016 259.950
4 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 15

+0.135

1'20.252

0.026 259.866
5 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 15

+0.145

1'20.262

0.010 259.834
6 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 24

+0.251

1'20.368

0.106 259.491
7 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari 20

+0.346

1'20.463

0.095 259.184
8 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes 15

+0.479

1'20.596

0.133 258.757
9 Argentina F. Colapinto Williams 43 Williams Mercedes 17

+0.788

1'20.905

0.309 257.768
10 Germany N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 Haas Ferrari 18

+0.826

1'20.943

0.038 257.647
11 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 22

+0.851

1'20.968

0.025 257.568
12 Australia D. Ricciardo RB 3 RB Red Bull 18

+0.960

1'21.077

0.109 257.222
13 Japan Y. Tsunoda RB 22 RB Red Bull 15

+1.024

1'21.141

0.064 257.019
14 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault 20

+1.038

1'21.155

0.014 256.974
15 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes 23

+1.040

1'21.157

0.002 256.968
16 Denmark K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20 Haas Ferrari 21

+1.091

1'21.208

0.051 256.807
17 France E. Ocon Alpine 31 Alpine Renault 19

+1.141

1'21.258

0.050 256.649
18 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull 23

+1.170

1'21.287

0.029 256.557
19 Finland V. Bottas Sauber 77 Sauber Ferrari 20

+1.240

1'21.357

0.070 256.336
20 China Z. Guanyu Sauber 24 Sauber Ferrari 18

+1.918

1'22.035

0.678 254.218
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