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Valtteri Bottas flirted with the limits of the track on his way to P1 in final practice, while Daniel Ricciardo took out the reds and Lewis Hamilton narrowly avoided a big one in traffic.
Observed by cardboard cutouts, 76 of which had been bought by Sebastian Vettel to represent the Ferrari team, the final practice of the Italian Grand Prix began on a warm circuit in Monza with zero chance of rain, 26 ° C air temperature and 36 Temp. Track C
Starting with the last practice on Saturday, all drivers had to meet a new maximum time of 1:43 s. The FIA set the rule to avoid a repeat of last year’s qualifying fiasco, as the Q3 drivers were as slow as possible, hoping other cars would pass them so they could tow them. Seven drivers were unable to cross the line to start a final fast lap.
The FP3 got off to a slow start as, seen too often in FP3 these days, the silence descended after a handful of drivers did setup laps to check for any overnight changes.
It was not until Carlos Sainz, 18 minutes into the session, that the time for the first lap was set, 1: 21.8 on medium tires.
Radio crew: “Carlos, it seems like a reasonable start to the session. You are the only car left.
Sainz: “Ok, but say that I am P1.”
Radio team: “You are P1. Purple in all sectors.”#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 # F1
– Planet F1 (@ Planet_F1) September 5, 2020
Interesting McLaren was deliberately slow to let the Spaniard out of the garage. With high tire pressures at stake this weekend, the pressures that are measured as tire covers are removed, McLaren left him sitting for a while as the tire temperature dropped, and so did the Pressure.
Taking three-tenths of his time, Sainz was joined by a queue of cars that included Vettel’s and Charles Leclerc’s Ferraris, both on soft tires, and Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, also on soft tires.
Bottas was the fastest, Hamilton was even faster, 1: 20.6, Pierre Gasly jumped to third place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Sainz, while Leclerc was eighth and Vettel eleventh.
Leclerc was in trouble with Norris after massively blocking the McLaren driver at Parabolica when he was on a fast lap. “Don’t you know what blue flags are?” asked the British.
Charles says sorry @LandoNorris #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/RdJDtSsgas
– Tami. (@Vetteleclerc) September 5, 2020
After a cooldown lap, Bottas increased his pace to 1: 20.622, beating Hamilton by 0.036s. Esteban Ocon improved to third ahead of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, all three on medium tires, and Gasly.
Continuing the media, Verstappen came in front 1: 20.4, 0.166s faster than Bottas. Ocon, Pérez and Kvyat lined up as the top six after the first few races were completed.
Despite the new 1:43 maximum time limit, many of the drivers missed it in the first 40 minutes, a curious case given that they actually needed to practice it before qualifying. Most drivers clocked 1:50 with even 2:02 from George Russell.
Leclerc told Ferrari: “If anything, this delta time is more dangerous on the charge lap. On the final lap it’s good, but on the loading lap it doesn’t make sense. “
Bottas started the qualifying simulators with the Finn coming out of the pits on a new set of soft tires. Purple in the second and third sectors, he did a 1: 20.089 but flirted with the track limits at Parabolica with his right wheels just barely touching the white line at the exit of the curve.
Meanwhile, Hamilton made a mistake at the chicane and fell back on his fastest lap. The Briton’s second lap was 0.350 seconds behind his teammate’s best, who held firm.
Lando Norris improved to second place, 0.323s, with Ricciardo taking third place ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. However, that’s where Ricciardo’s session ended.
The Australian stopped on the track approaching the first Lesmo, raising the red flags for the position of the car. “I have a problem, I have a problem,” he told Renault.
Another day, the same fate as Daniel pic.twitter.com/KTD9TzYiiO
– Ky (@FiftyBucksss) September 5, 2020
The session resumed with three minutes on the clock, a mad dash for a final fast lap and a queue of cars around Parabolica that nearly led to Hamilton crashing at the end of the queue.
Bottas remained in P1 ahead of Sainz and Norris with Ricciardo fourth ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen.
Albon, who was on a good lap but knocked it out, was seventh with Ocon, Stroll and Pérez completing the top ten.
Leclerc was 11th, Vettel 15th.
Times
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1: 20.089 14 laps
2 Carlos Sainz McLaren 0.229s 14 laps
3 Lando Norris McLaren 0.323s 15 laps
4 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 0.330s 9 laps
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 0.350s 11 laps
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 0.367s 15 laps
7 Alex Albon Red Bull 0.474s 15 laps
8 Esteban Ocon Renault 0.604s 13 laps
9 Lance Stroll Racing Point 0.715s 14 laps
10 Sergio Pérez Racing Point 0.808s 13 laps
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 0.828s 11 laps
12 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 0.847s 14 laps
13 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri 0.864s 13 laps
14 Romain Grosjean Haas 1,116s 14 laps
15 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1,174s 13 laps
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1.347s 15 laps
17 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1,370s 15 laps
18 George Russell Williams 1,588s 16 laps
19 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1.675s 15 laps
20 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 2.001s 15 laps
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