Italian GP FP3: Norris tops, Leclerc challenging the McLarens
F1 NewsSaturday, 06 September 2025 at 13:36
Lando Norris topped the final practice session for the 2025 Italian Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc behind him while Oscar Piastri was third fastest.
While Norris and McLaren still have the edge, qualifying doesn't appear to be a walk in the park for the Championship leaders as Leclerc was just 0.021s behind Norris with Piastri third and 0.165s behind his teammate.
The Monegasque had a few scary moments out on track but managed to keep his Ferrari pointing in the right direction.
Four-time Formula 1 Champion, Max Verstappen, was fourth fastest in his Red Bull, 0.002s behind Piastri, and should be in the mix for pole come qualifying later in the day.
George Russell showed some improvement for Mercedes and went fifth fastest, 0.017s behind Verstappen as Gabriel Bortoleto was a surprise sixth, 0.227s off the best time in the session.
Lewis Hamilton was 0.040s behind the Brazilian in seventh and 0.005s clear of Isack Hadjar who was eighth for the Racing Bulls.
Kimi Antonelli and Alex Albon were ninth and tenth respectively as the top ten were all within four tenths which promises an epic qualifying as the while grid was with less than one second.
Also expect games in terms of drivers trying to get tows and combined with the traffic expected in Q1, Qualifying will be something to look forward for.
Buildup towards FP3
Friday was an interesting day at Monza as the team got going, fine-tuning their cars in preparation for qualifying and the race with several drivers having off moments in the gravel at different corners with Antonello coming off worst as he got beached early in FP2.
McLaren were fastest overall but did not enjoy their usual advantage, as Ferrari looked fast, while Verstappen in the Red Bull seemed rapid on a race distance, which means he can challenge the reigning F1 Constructors' Champions come Sunday.
Williams and their slippery FW47 were up there with the big teams as well, while Mercedes were not so convincing in low downforce trim, especially as track temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius on Friday, something that does not play to the advantage of the W16.
The gap between the top teams was very small after FP2 on Friday, and with the notorious towing games and traffic that come to play in Monza, the scene is set for an interesting qualifying.
But first, FP3 will give us an idea about what the teams have done overnight to their cars and whether someone managed to improve.
FP3 Session Highlights
FP3 started in clear glorious conditions with track temperatures at 40 degrees Celsius while the air temperature was 24 degrees.
Five minutes into the session and it was only Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg that made their way out on track with Fernando Alonso following, as several drivers were still out of their cars.
Then Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto went out on track with Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda also joining. Gasly was announced by Alpine as their driver up till 2028 earlier on Saturday.
But ten minutes into the session, only three cars were out on track while the rest remained in their respective garages.
But then the big boys started joining with Piastri, Hamilton, and Leclerc heading out on track. Both Haas cars also emerged. Norris then went out with both Williams' drivers also starting their sessions.
Hamilton soon started a timed lap but locked up into Turn 1 and went straight having to abort the lap. Sainz soon after messed up Turn 1 and blamed tail wind. Ollie Bearman also went off there so did Bortoleto and Norris.
15 minutes into the session and it was only Verstappen and Russell that were missing in action, but the Dutchman exited the garage moments later.
While drivers initially started on Medium and Hard tyres, it wasn't long before the Softs appeared for some early qualifying simulations.
Leclerc, 25 minutes into the session, almost lost it into Parabolica as his car snapped, but he held it and kept going.
Antonelli then reported weird derating on his Mercedes while both Ferraris had a close moment as Hamilton waited till the last minute to break his tow behind Leclerc.
Hadjar, on the other hand, was looked into by the stewards for failing to return to the track properly after overshooting his braking in the second chicane.
Verstappen had a moment with Esteban Ocon and went on to deliver some colorful language as a result. No love lost between these two.
Less than twenty minutes from the end, both McLaren drivers bolted on the Softs for some qualifying runs after focusing on harder compounds up to that point.
Norris went to the top but Piastri was two and a half tenths behind him in second as more drivers started their final qualifying simulations.
Liam Lawson soon after radioed that he ran wide at Turn 5 and asked his team to check the edge of the floor on his VCARB.
Leclerc then had another moment in Lesmo 2, dips a wheel in the gravel as the car then snapped, but then he kept his foot down and kept going.
Hamilton then radioed: "Need some more juice. Need some more speed somehow."
The session ended with practice starts.
Italian GP FP3 Classification
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