Only one of Mercedes’ rivals managed to lap within a second of the flying W07s in the final practice session for the Italian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton set a benchmark time of 1’22.008 with a quarter of an hour remaining in the session. Nico Rosberg who set his time moments earlier, was almost four-tenths down on his team mate.
The Ferrari drivers took to the track in the final minutes in the hope of narrowing the gap to Mercedes but the result was a yawning margin of almost a second between Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen was a couple of tenths off his team mate’s pace.
Having conserved their pace on Friday as usual, Williams stepped up to become the third-fastest team in the last hour of running before qualifying. The symmetry continued with the two Red Bull drivers seventh and eighth fastest, Daniel Ricciardo fractionally quicker than Max Verstappen, who held up Rosberg early in the session.
Esteban Gutierrez prevented Force India from occupying both of the final places in the top ten, pipping Nico Hulkenberg by seven-thousandths of a second. His team mate Romain Grosjean spun off early in the session at Ascari, blaming a gearbox problem.
Despite a high-sped trip through the gravel trap at Parabolica Jolyon Palmer moved up from the slowest time yesterday to 15th-fastest.
Third practice visual gaps
Lewis Hamilton – 1’22.008
+0.393 Nico Rosberg – 1’22.401
+0.938 Sebastian Vettel – 1’22.946
+1.141 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’23.149
+1.492 Valtteri Bottas – 1’23.500
+1.639 Felipe Massa – 1’23.647
+1.701 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’23.709
+1.732 Max Verstappen – 1’23.740
+1.909 Sergio Perez – 1’23.917
+2.026 Esteban Gutierrez – 1’24.034
+2.033 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’24.041
+2.232 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’24.240
+2.455 Romain Grosjean – 1’24.463
+2.525 Jolyon Palmer – 1’24.533
+2.534 Marcus Ericsson – 1’24.542
+2.650 Fernando Alonso – 1’24.658
+2.707 Felipe Nasr – 1’24.715
+2.785 Kevin Magnussen – 1’24.793
+2.837 Daniil Kvyat – 1’24.845
+2.885 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’24.893
+2.930 Esteban Ocon – 1’24.938
Complete practice times
| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’23.162 | 1’22.801 | 1’22.008 | -0.793 | 90 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’22.959 | 1’22.994 | 1’22.401 | -0.558 | 96 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’24.307 | 1’23.254 | 1’22.946 | -0.308 | 62 |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’24.047 | 1’23.427 | 1’23.149 | -0.278 | 56 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’24.785 | 1’24.299 | 1’23.500 | -0.799 | 97 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’25.840 | 1’24.556 | 1’23.647 | -0.909 | 56 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’25.120 | 1’24.003 | 1’23.709 | -0.294 | 72 |
| 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’24.982 | 1’23.732 | 1’23.740 | +0.008 | 70 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’24.650 | 1’24.653 | 1’23.917 | -0.733 | 93 |
| 10 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas-Ferrari | 1’25.113 | 1’24.674 | 1’24.034 | -0.64 | 67 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’24.587 | 1’24.041 | -0.546 | 61 | |
| 12 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’25.351 | 1’24.549 | 1’24.104 | -0.445 | 62 |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’25.973 | 1’25.240 | 1’24.240 | -1 | 68 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’25.507 | 1’24.259 | 1’24.658 | +0.399 | 50 |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’24.763 | 1’24.516 | 1’24.463 | -0.053 | 55 |
| 16 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’26.811 | 1’25.833 | 1’24.533 | -1.3 | 92 |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’25.853 | 1’24.981 | 1’24.542 | -0.439 | 65 |
| 18 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’26.439 | 1’25.643 | 1’24.715 | -0.928 | 71 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1’26.956 | 1’25.555 | 1’24.793 | -0.762 | 83 |
| 20 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’26.074 | 1’25.614 | 1’24.845 | -0.769 | 70 |
| 21 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor-Mercedes | 1’26.762 | 1’25.083 | 1’24.893 | -0.19 | 84 |
| 22 | Esteban Ocon | Manor-Mercedes | 1’26.391 | 1’25.275 | 1’24.938 | -0.337 | 58 |
| 23 | Alfonso Celis | Force India-Mercedes | 1’25.367 | 30 |
2016 Italian Grand Prix
- 2016 Italian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Fourth Driver of the Weekend win for Ricciardo
- Second-lowest rating this year for Italian GP
- 2016 Italian Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- Top ten pictures from the 2016 Italian GP
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
3rd September 2016, 11:05
Although they say ‘never say never’ in sport, I feel like Monza could be a bore-fest at least today. I am thinking more of catching up MotoGP qualifying and Formula 1 on a busy race weekend!
Uncle Ben (@uncleben)
3rd September 2016, 11:36
The Predictions Championship is getting a bit one-sided too. Here’s me hoping for an eventful race with an unexpected outcome!
SeanG
3rd September 2016, 12:17
Always MotoGP
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
3rd September 2016, 11:06
rather than Formula 1*
Tasimana
3rd September 2016, 11:16
Let’s hope with 2017 regs we have multiple winners from different teams. Good luck to Mercedes but this is getting painful to watch.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
3rd September 2016, 11:17
I thought the Manor’s would have been quicker here. Their relative lack of DF usually cutting through the air with less drag.
WheelToWheel (@lolzerbob)
3rd September 2016, 11:36
I’m also very surprised. that car should be quicker than STR, Renault, Sauber and closer to McLaren and Haas
Guccio (@concalvez00)
3rd September 2016, 11:18
”Meant” Hamilton flexes his muscles..
kpcart
3rd September 2016, 12:44
first 4-5 teams basically in order for teammate times… shows this is one of the easiest tracks in f1 like drivers have said over the years. I hope can Ferrari can get a good start, turn one might be the only interesting part of the race tomorrow.
MG421982 (@)
3rd September 2016, 13:31
Oh, wow, RBR not the 2nd best team anymore?!?
Jerejj
3rd September 2016, 14:32
I think it’s a ”track-specific” thing.