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Valtteri Bottas led a sliding action-packed third practice session, ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, while Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was stopped on the track with a mechanical problem just after setting the fourth fastest time.
Bottas and Sainz were split into 0.229 seconds as the Finn pushed the track limits to the max on a spectacularly fast lap for Mercedes, while Sainz took P2 after a red flag period caused when Ricciardo was forced to pull over to the side. from the track whereupon the team said they suspected there was a fault in the fuel pump of his Renault.
READ MORE: ‘It’s going to be a nightmare’: Hamilton braced for more qualifying shenanigans at Monza this year
The Australian already has a new power unit for this weekend and his session ended in disappointment with 10 minutes remaining when he came to a crawling stop after Della Roggia’s chicane, raising fears for his participation in qualifying, which starts just two hours after FP3. although the team said they were confident they would have their RS20 ready to race in this afternoon’s important session.
2020 Italian GP FP3: Ricciardo parks with power unit problem
Lando Norris was one place ahead of Ricciardo, while Lewis Hamilton completed the top five for Mercedes, 0.350 seconds behind. Max Verstappen finished sixth for Red Bull, as the only driver to complete a faster lap on medium tires in the session.
Hamilton’s session almost ended in tears when he had to dodge slow traffic approaching the Parabolica at speeds of nearly 200 mph, in a heart attack moment at the end.
READ MORE: Pirelli to test 2021 tire prototypes at Portuguese GP practice
Alex Albon ranked sixth on softs behind his Red Bull teammate, with Renault’s Esteban Ocon seventh. Racing Points lined up ninth and tenth, ahead of last year’s Italian GP winner Charles Leclerc.
|
one Valtteri Bottas BOT Mercedes |
1: 20.089 |
|
two Charles Sainz SAI Mclaren |
+ 0.229 s |
|
3 country Norris NEITHER Mclaren |
+ 0.323 s |
|
4 Daniel Ricciardo RIC Renault |
+ 0.330 s |
|
5 Luis Hamilton HAM Mercedes |
+ 0.350 s |
The AlphaTauris, in 12th and 13th places, were the last drivers within one second of P1 – Daniil Kvyat ahead of Pierre Gasly – while Romain Grosjean de Haas beat Ferrari’s Sebasitan Vettel to 14th.
Kevin Magnussen was ranked 16th for Haas, just behind Vettel, while Kimi Raikkonen was 17th for Alfa Romeo.
READ MORE: Ferrari drivers aim for Q3, despite labeling SF1000 as ‘a handful’ around Monza
The two Williams drivers were led by George Russell in 18th place, his teammate Nicholas Latifi in 19th, while Antonio Giovinazzi completed qualifying two seconds behind first place for Alfa Romeo.
With special qualifying engine modes now banned for this afternoon’s qualifying session and a minimum time delta set to avoid what Lewis Hamilton predicted will be a heavy traffic ‘nightmare’ scenario at Monza as drivers search for a trailer , we are set for a captivating shootout for pole at 3pm local time.
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