Italian GP – Free Practice 3: Hamilton Ready for Qualifying, Vettel Positions Himself

It is 11 o’clock in Monza and this is the start time of the third and final Free Practice session of the 2015 Italian Grand Prix. As announced yesterday, the weather is more unpredictable this Saturday morning: a light drizzle has fallen on the circuit a few minutes before the start of the session. The race direction therefore declares a start on a wet track. 16 degrees in the air compared to only 19 degrees on the track.

At Ferrari, excitement is already in the air: all the big bosses are already there, including Sergio Marchionne, CEO of the FIAT group, on which Ferrari depends. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen will therefore be under pressure this afternoon with the start of Qualifications.

On track, Jenson Button and Daniil Kyvat were the first to wake up: they tackle the 5.793 kilometers of the circuit.

McLaren & Toro Rosso out early in #FP3 as they sweep round Parabolica #ItalianGP #ForzaF1 pic.twitter.com/k8yyOYX8wm

— Formula 1 (@F1) 5 Septembre 2015

The track is already starting to dry in places, but the drivers still need to be cautious as Max Verstappen indicates to his radio engineer. Intermediate tires are therefore the order of the day. The first few minutes are quite calm: the drivers aren’t doing many laps because the weather conditions will ultimately be milder than expected during the Qualifications. These wet conditions are not representative of the rest of the weekend.

In the Ferrari garage, French fans have the pleasure of seeing Jean-Eric Vergne, who has made the trip as a development driver. JEV is currently at the center of rumors regarding the lineup for the new Haas F1 Team… His comments seem positive at least when speaking to Franck Montagny for Canal+: “We’re working on it (regarding his appointment for 2016)… I hope to announce good news to you soon.”

**After half an hour,** only two drivers have set a time: the two Toro Rosso drivers, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen. 1:31.790 for the Spaniard.

The session truly begins when the drivers can fit dry-weather tires. The two Toro Rossos are the quickest off the mark. The rest of the pack follows. The serious competition starts with Scuderia Ferrari: Kimi Räikkönen sets a 1:28.490 on white-banded hard tires. Sebastian Vettel sets the mark at 1:26.537.

At Mercedes, they wait a few minutes before setting off. Nico Rosberg leaves his garage with just over 20 minutes left in the session.

New blow for Daniel Ricciardo! Same difficulty as during the second Free Practice session: sudden loss of power on his Red Bull, his engineer orders him not to change gears: the Australian stops at turn 3.

We are now entering the last quarter-hour of the session. Drivers are experiencing wheel lock-up issues in turn, as shown by this tweet from the official Formula 1 site:

Drivers struggling with track conditions as Alonso, Verstappen & Merhi lock up #FP3 #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/A0HvQPEWB5

— Formula 1 (@F1) 5 Septembre 2015

The soft tires are now out to tackle the end of this final training session. In terms of top speeds, Force India with Nico Hülkenberg is still in a very good position.

SPEED TRAP: Hülkenberg burning up the track as #FP3 winds towards its conclusion #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/84pPo0T5YM

— Formula 1 (@F1) 5 Septembre 2015

Times keep improving, the final rehearsal for the Qualifications is in full swing. With less than 3 minutes to go, Nico Rosberg sets a time of 1:24.908. Sebastian Vettel improves by 0.100. But Lewis Hamilton arrives and settles the matter: 1:24.544 for the Englishman. It’s not yet the perfect time: Rosberg is the fastest in the last sector.

The checkered flag of this free practice session is waved, last lap for all the drivers. Lewis Hamilton remains the fastest this Saturday morning. Great performance by Sebastian Vettel who positioned himself between the two Mercedes. Nico Rosberg will need to step up his game to compete with his teammate in the time trial.

Just behind, the Williams are back at the forefront after being quite discreet on Friday. Valtteri Bottas is 4th, less than half a second off the benchmark time. A great performance also by Pastor Maldonado for Lotus, while Force India has fallen back in line.

Here is the complete ranking of this third Free Practice session:

Join us this afternoon on motorsinside.com for the complete summary of the Qualifying session!