Italy – Free Practice 3: Vettel, the fastest before qualifying

After a cloudy Friday with scattered showers, a completely dry track hosts the third free practice session. With a track temperature of 28°C and 20°C in the air, the conditions are ideal for this last practice session at the Monza circuit. Various adjustments will be made to the cars to adapt to the new weather conditions and thus best prepare for the qualifying session starting at 3:00 PM.

The session began 10 minutes late due to an incident during the Formula 3 race. Australian driver Alex Peroni from Campos Racing took off on a curb at the Parabolica, ending his race in the fences. More fear than harm as the driver emerged unscathed despite the violence of the impact.

At the green light, Carlos Sainz is one of the first to present himself to the Tifosi by setting a reference time of 1:21.986. After 10 minutes of testing, Ferrari decides to send out its two drivers. Sebastian Vettel, greeting the public during his out lap, is followed by Charles Leclerc. The German driver takes the lead with 1:20.611, followed by his teammate by 4 tenths.

Red Bull and Alexander Albon set an initial time of 1:21.426 after 20 minutes of testing. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, recorded the third-fastest time in free practice with a 1:20.859.

Romain Grosjean runs too wide at the Parabolica and consequently has his current time and the time for his next lap canceled. Indeed, the FIA briefed the drivers on the track limits not to be exceeded, and the Parabolica is one of the corners closely monitored.

Meanwhile, Williams is running with a fairly high downforce setup, which is very surprising considering the configuration of this circuit is conducive to high speeds.

There is a lot of traffic on the track. The drivers are running a lot to work on their qualifications. Some are doing long run tests for the race.

After 30 minutes of running, all the drivers return to the pits. It’s finally time to put on the soft tires and do a qualifying simulation lap.

Ferraris are the first to hit the track with this in mind, the Monegasque driver tries to slipstream his teammate to improve his time. It doesn’t work as Sebastian Vettel sets the fastest time with 1:20.331. Additionally, Charles Leclerc understeers at Parabolica and puts all four wheels off the track, so his lap and the following one are also annulled.

Max Verstappen benefits from the slipstream of both Williams to improve his time and position himself between the two Ferraris with a 1:20.326. The gaps are narrowing between the drivers, and given the positions, it seems that many drivers are hiding their true pace.

It is therefore Sebastian Vettel who takes the lead with a time of 1:20.294. He is followed by Max Verstappen with 1:20.326 and Valtteri Bottas tied with Charles Leclerc at 1:20.403.

One of the highlights of this session is the performance of Daniel Ricciardo. Behind the wheel of his Renault, the Australian driver finished fifth, 0.270 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel. As for the French drivers, Pierre Gasly had to settle for third place, almost eight-tenths behind.

The qualifying sessions promise to be very interesting on this legendary circuit that is Monza. Indeed, even though the Mercedes remained behind the Ferraris during the three free practice sessions, there is no doubt that the silver arrows will raise their level during qualifying to secure a pole position in the temple of speed of Formula 1.

Results of Free Practice 3 of the 2019 Italian Grand Prix:

From our special correspondent in Italy.