Norris leads but Leclerc and Verstappen are contenders, Hamilton flounders

Lando Norris topped the timing sheets in FP3 for the Italian Grand Prix, followed by Charles Leclerc in P2, with Oscar Piastri rounding up the top 3 places.

How it happened

As the clock started running down, Lando Norris stood outside his car, with Oscar Piastri sitting in the cockpit of his MCL39, revealing the mindset of both drivers heading into the session, with the Aussie aiming to find the time he lacked during FP2, having missed the first session on Friday yielding his cockpit to McLaren ace Alex Dunne.

As the drivers set their first round of fast laps, it was Yuki Tsunoda leading ahead of Piastri, both on the hard compound tyres, albeit for a short while, as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton took over the top spots in that respective order. Isack Hadjar and Andrea Kimi Antonelli then got in between the Japanese driver and the Aussie, as Carlos Sainz, Norris and Alonso closed off the top ten, with Charles Leclerc demoting Hamilton to P3.

Verstappen went even quicker, dipping below the 1:20's, with a 1:19.668. making the gap to his pursuers of well over three tenths. Then Alexander Albon and George Russell got ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who'd previously taken P3, before Hamilton pipped his fast lap to regain his place behind teammate Leclerc.

The McLaren cars were the first to don on the soft laps, as Albon took P3 from Leclerc, after Hamilton snatched P2 from the Monegasque driver. Norris then went quicker than Verstappen by over three and a half tenths, as Piastri took P2 behind his teammate, albeit more than two tenths adrift. Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto then took P3 and P4 ahead of the Dutchman.

Russell then improved to P4 ahead of the Brazilian Sauber driver with Hamilton and Leclerc in P8 and P10. Verstappen then split the McLarens and took P2, 0.182s behind Norris. Piastri pipped the Dutchman, with Russell Bortoleto, Hamilton, Hadjar, Hulkenberg, Leclerc and Albon closing off the top 10.