Norris pips Leclerc in final Italian GP practice

Under hot Italian skies, Norris set the fastest time of 1m19.331, narrowly holding off the Ferrari driver by just 0.021s to go into qualifying with the upper hand.

Leclerc set his quickest lap in the dying moments of the session, nudging Oscar Piastri into third, with the Australian finishing 0.165s behind his McLaren teammate.

The field remained incredibly tight, with the top 11 drivers separated by less than half a second, while every car on the grid managed a lap within a single second of Norris’s best effort.

Track evolution once again played a decisive role, with the first 45 minutes spent running mainly on hard and medium tyres.

It was only later that the soft tyres produced the session’s fastest times. Norris vaulted to the top with roughly 15 minutes remaining after failing to find pace earlier on the harder compounds.

Piastri, initially two tenths off his teammate’s benchmark, closed the gap to within a tenth, briefly outpacing Norris in the first sector before losing ground in the remaining two.

Leclerc, pushing hard to extract maximum performance from his Ferrari, suffered the session’s biggest scare.

The Monegasque driver ran wide at the second Lesmo corner, losing the rear end, but he recovered skillfully as the car entered the gravel, narrowly avoiding a more serious incident.

Behind the top three, Max Verstappen will be encouraged by his pace, finishing fourth, just 0.167s off Norris. The reigning world champion impressed on the harder compounds, holding the session’s early pace on the hard tyres for much of the running.

The Dutchman had a brief moment with his Brazil 2018 sparring partner, Esteban Ocon, heading into Turn 1 during the session. Verstappen passed the Haas driver down the straight but was briefly repassed by Ocon before pulling ahead again. He was then heard letting out some choice words over the radio following the incident.

George Russell also showed solid form, ending FP3 within two tenths of Norris in fifth. Gabriel Bortoleto impressed with sixth for Sauber, while Lewis Hamilton finished the session in seventh. Isack Hadjar, Kimi Antonelli, and Alex Albon completed the top ten.

With such a tightly packed field and consistent conditions expected to continue, a fiercely competitive qualifying session is anticipated in front of Monza’s passionate crowd.

Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix will begin at 4pm local time (12am AEST).