Max third in final practice for Italian Grand Prix

Published on 05 September 2026 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen set the third-fastest time in the third and final free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix. Mercedes driver George Russell was fastest at Monza, ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

The third practice session at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza got off to a fairly quiet start. It took more than fifteen minutes before the leading teams ventured out onto the hot track. Max was once again working with his race engineer GianPiero Lambiase for this session and the rest of the weekend, after Tom Hart had taken over the role during second practice.

Antonelli (1:23.032) and Leclerc then set the fastest times on soft tyres, although the Monegasque driver’s lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits. Max was four tenths off the pace on medium tyres. Norris (on mediums) and Hamilton (on softs) were unable to beat Verstappen’s time on their first laps. Leclerc did manage it, with the Ferrari driver moving into P2 on his second lap on the softs.

With half an hour remaining, Max improved his time to 1:23.455, putting him fourth at that point, behind Antonelli, Leclerc and Gasly. It should be noted, however, that the first two had set their times on soft tyres. Max then lowered his time to 1:23.100 to move into P2, before Russell went fastest with a 1:22.687, helped in part by a slipstream from his Mercedes team-mate.

With fifteen minutes remaining, Max set his first lap time on soft tyres (1:22.790), which was good enough for second place, three tenths behind Russell, who had improved his time slightly to 1:22.463. Antonelli moved between the two shortly afterwards.

Several team-mates used the session to practise giving each other a slipstream. This provides such a significant advantage on Monza’s long straights that the resulting gain in lap time is likely to become a decisive factor during qualifying.

Piastri was held up by Russell, while the pace at the front increased once again. In the final minutes, Russell lowered the benchmark to 1:22.219, with Hamilton in P2 and Verstappen in third, three and a half tenths off the fastest time.

Results third free practice Italy: