Formula 1 Italian GP
F1 Italian GP: Hamilton leads Russell in final practice
Hamilton sets a 1m20.117s lap to go fastest over team-mate Russell
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited: Aug 31, 2024, 8:42 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
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.
Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info
1
-
4
Main Information Additional Data
1
-
2
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h 1 L. Hamilton Mercedes 44
Mercedes Mercedes 20
1'20.117
260.304 2 G. Russell Mercedes 63
Mercedes Mercedes 24
+0.093
1'20.210
0.093 260.002 3 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
Ferrari Ferrari 22
+0.109
1'20.226
0.016 259.950 4 O. Piastri McLaren 81
McLaren Mercedes 15
+0.135
1'20.252
0.026 259.866 5 L. Norris McLaren 4
McLaren Mercedes 15
+0.145
1'20.262
0.010 259.834 6 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1
Red Bull Red Bull 24
+0.251
1'20.368
0.106 259.491 7 C. Sainz Ferrari 55
Ferrari Ferrari 20
+0.346
1'20.463
0.095 259.184 8 A. Albon Williams 23
Williams Mercedes 15
+0.479
1'20.596
0.133 258.757 9 F. Colapinto Williams 43
Williams Mercedes 17
+0.788
1'20.905
0.309 257.768 10 N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27
Haas Ferrari 18
+0.826
1'20.943
0.038 257.647 11 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
Aston Martin Mercedes 22
+0.851
1'20.968
0.025 257.568 12 D. Ricciardo RB 3
RB Red Bull 18
+0.960
1'21.077
0.109 257.222 13 Y. Tsunoda RB 22
RB Red Bull 15
+1.024
1'21.141
0.064 257.019 14 P. Gasly Alpine 10
Alpine Renault 20
+1.038
1'21.155
0.014 256.974 15 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
Aston Martin Mercedes 23
+1.040
1'21.157
0.002 256.968 16 K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20
Haas Ferrari 21
+1.091
1'21.208
0.051 256.807 17 E. Ocon Alpine 31
Alpine Renault 19
+1.141
1'21.258
0.050 256.649 18 S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11
Red Bull Red Bull 23
+1.170
1'21.287
0.029 256.557 19 V. Bottas Sauber 77
Sauber Ferrari 20
+1.240
1'21.357
0.070 256.336 20 Z. Guanyu Sauber 24
Sauber Ferrari 18
+1.918
1'22.035
0.678 254.218 View full results
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Antonelli beats Doohan in chase for same F1 race number
Next article Everything you need to know about the 2025 F1 season: Driver line-up and calendar
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jake Boxall-Legge
Isack Hadjar to make Red Bull return at F1 Azerbaijan GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Azerbaijan GP
1 mo
Isack Hadjar to make Red Bull return at F1 Azerbaijan GP
Latest news
McLaren to upgrade MCL40 car at its bogey F1 track Las Vegas
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
6 min
McLaren to upgrade MCL40 car at its bogey F1 track Las Vegas
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
General
Misc General 4 h
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
11 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
12 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe