Valtteri Bottas headed the final practice session for the Italian Grand Prix, which was disrupted by a red flag in the dying minutes.
The Mercedes driver came very close to straying beyond track limits at Parabolica, but the stewards allowed his best time of 1’20.089 to stand.With eight minutes to go, Daniel Ricciardo came to a stop in between the two Lesmo corners after setting the third-fastest time. Renault said they suspect his car suffered a fuel pump failure, and said they expect it will be replaced in time for him to be able to participate in qualifying.
The session resumed with enough time left for drivers to make their final flying runs. That was sufficient for Carlos Sainz Jnr to take second place from team mate Lando Norris, who was in turn just seven-thousandths of a second quicker than Ricciardo.
Lewis Hamilton came fifth behind the Renault-powered sweep of places two, three and four. He had a near-miss arriving at Parabolica at the end of the session, taking to the grass as he encountered two drivers running slowly side-by-side approaching the final corner.
Traffic remained a concern for several F1 drivers ahead of the qualifying hour. Norris was held up by Charles Leclerc at Parabolica early in the session, prompting him to ask on the radio with the Ferrari driver was aware of the blue flags.
Leclerc, however, voiced concerns over the new delta time drivers are required not to exceed between the two Safety Car lines as a safety measure. The Ferrari driver warned it could make the traffic situation more dangerous on ‘charge’ laps between qualifying runs.
In a close session, the Red Bull drivers lapped within half a second of Bottas, demoting Esteban Ocon to eighth in the second Renault. The Racing Point drivers completed the top 10, followed by Leclerc in the first of the Ferraris.
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2020 Italian Grand Prix Third Practice classification
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’20.089 | 14 | |
2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’20.318 | 0.229 | 14 |
3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’20.412 | 0.323 | 15 |
4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’20.419 | 0.330 | 9 |
5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’20.439 | 0.350 | 11 |
6 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’20.456 | 0.367 | 15 |
7 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’20.563 | 0.474 | 15 |
8 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1’20.693 | 0.604 | 13 |
9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’20.804 | 0.715 | 14 |
10 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’20.897 | 0.808 | 13 |
11 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’20.917 | 0.828 | 11 |
12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’20.936 | 0.847 | 14 |
13 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’20.953 | 0.864 | 13 |
14 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’21.205 | 1.116 | 14 |
15 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’21.263 | 1.174 | 13 |
16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’21.436 | 1.347 | 15 |
17 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’21.459 | 1.370 | 15 |
18 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’21.677 | 1.588 | 16 |
19 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’21.764 | 1.675 | 15 |
20 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’22.090 | 2.001 | 15 |
Third practice visual gaps
Valtteri Bottas – 1’20.089
+0.229 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’20.318
+0.323 Lando Norris – 1’20.412
+0.330 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’20.419
+0.350 Lewis Hamilton – 1’20.439
+0.367 Max Verstappen – 1’20.456
+0.474 Alexander Albon – 1’20.563
+0.604 Esteban Ocon – 1’20.693
+0.715 Lance Stroll – 1’20.804
+0.808 Sergio Perez – 1’20.897
+0.828 Charles Leclerc – 1’20.917
+0.847 Pierre Gasly – 1’20.936
+0.864 Daniil Kvyat – 1’20.953
+1.116 Romain Grosjean – 1’21.205
+1.174 Sebastian Vettel – 1’21.263
+1.347 Kevin Magnussen – 1’21.436
+1.370 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’21.459
+1.588 George Russell – 1’21.677
+1.675 Nicholas Latifi – 1’21.764
+2.001 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’22.090
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’20.703 | 1’20.454 | 1’20.089 | -0.365 | 71 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’20.948 | 1’20.192 | 1’20.439 | +0.247 | 70 |
3 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’21.821 | 1’21.313 | 1’20.318 | -0.995 | 71 |
4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’21.747 | 1’21.089 | 1’20.412 | -0.677 | 63 |
5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’21.789 | 1’22.080 | 1’20.419 | -1.37 | 60 |
6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’21.641 | 1’21.228 | 1’20.456 | -0.772 | 67 |
7 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’21.500 | 1’21.883 | 1’20.563 | -0.937 | 81 |
8 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1’21.984 | 1’21.697 | 1’20.693 | -1.004 | 73 |
9 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’22.131 | 1’21.389 | 1’20.804 | -0.585 | 67 |
10 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’21.747 | 1’21.594 | 1’20.897 | -0.697 | 69 |
11 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’21.904 | 1’21.503 | 1’20.917 | -0.586 | 68 |
12 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’21.667 | 1’21.121 | 1’20.936 | -0.185 | 66 |
13 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’21.555 | 1’21.376 | 1’20.953 | -0.423 | 79 |
14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’22.409 | 1’22.254 | 1’21.205 | -1.049 | 68 |
15 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’22.988 | 1’21.733 | 1’21.263 | -0.47 | 65 |
16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’22.422 | 1’22.088 | 1’21.436 | -0.652 | 66 |
17 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’22.619 | 1’22.147 | 1’21.459 | -0.688 | 76 |
18 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’22.927 | 1’21.677 | -1.25 | 50 | |
19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’23.120 | 1’22.825 | 1’21.764 | -1.061 | 69 |
20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’22.552 | 1’21.786 | 1’22.090 | +0.304 | 71 |
21 | Roy Nissany | Williams-Mercedes | 1’22.826 | 25 |
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2020 Italian Grand Prix
- Grosjean “obviously jealous” but pleased for Gasly after win
- 2020 Italian Grand Prix Star Performers
- Gasly: I’m ready for Red Bull return
- Ban on ‘quali mode’ reduced overtaking at Monza – Hamilton
- Gasly beats Sainz in closest F1 finish for 10 years
knightameer (@knightameer)
5th September 2020, 12:11
Big mistake in the title if the article. Please correct it.
Close times at the front.
knightameer (@knightameer)
5th September 2020, 12:20
Oh the irony. Not if, of :-)
BaKano (@bakano)
5th September 2020, 12:22
Nice of you to make a mistake when pointing out to a mistake 😁
knightameer (@knightameer)
5th September 2020, 12:26
Its called being courteous and showing empathy.. 😁
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
5th September 2020, 12:40
Hamilton has not looked right all weekend. seeing raikkonen follow bottas, merc’s monza wing is very skinny, they are quick but slick, lots of sliding.
DeanR
5th September 2020, 14:18
As you will know, Lewis pulls it out of tge bag when it matters, when he is on the back foot. We shouldve all learned this by now. This is Hamiltons forte.
sebsronnie (@sebsronnie)
5th September 2020, 15:02
Not sure I understand your comment (but that goes for a lot of your comments to be honest!) At what point has Lewis not looked right? And Kimi following Bottas – where?