Verstappen tops final practice in Monza

Championship leader Max Verstappen has headed a subdued final practice session for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman ended the 60-minutes outing 0.3s clear of Charles Leclerc courtesy of a lap late in proceedings with Sergio Perez third fastest a further 0.2s adrift.

It was a comparatively slow start with George Russell not even in the Mercedes garage let alone his car as the session began.

Even Williams was in no rush to send Nyck de Vries out, the Dutchman having been drafted in after Alex Albon was sidelined with appendicitis.

The early pace was set by Perez, a 1:22.148s on the medium tyres. He was one of only 11 drivers who had ventured on track in the opening 15 minutes.

Having been delayed by Russell, the Mercedes driver having finally headed out and on a race run, Verstappen soon went fastest with a 1:21.872s on the medium rubber.

It left the Red Bull pair fastest ahead of the two Ferraris, Leclerc having set a 1:22.470s and Carlos Sainz a 1:22.653s.

Leclerc then improved to second fastest with a 1:21.944s, just 0.072s off Verstappen’s earlier best.

A snap of oversteer for de Vries saw the Williams substitute briefly off the road at the first Lesmo.

He skated through the gravel and was able to rejoin otherwise unscathed to carry on in the session.

Traffic proved something of an issue with mixed focuses among teams; some on long runs and others looking at single lap pace ahead of qualifying.

With 20 minutes remaining, a gaggle of cars headed out to perform a qualifying simulation.

It saw the pack crawl on approach to the Parabolica before Fernando Alonso sprinted clear, prompting the others to follow in the hope of picking up his slipstream.

Sainz was among that group, the Spaniard improving to second best with a 1:21.897s.

Alonso ended his lap with the fifth best time, with Lando Norris sixth best.

A strong opening sector for Nicholas Latifi saw the Williams driver rise to eighth with a 1:22.786s, the Canadian fastest of anyone through the speed trap.

Mick Schumacher got on track inside the final 10 minutes after a clutch issue was found during the fire up process of his Haas prior to the session started.

On track in the final minutes, Verstappen improved to a 1:21.252s, a time that saw him end the session fastest from Leclerc, then Perez and Sainz.

Rounding out the top 10 were Alonso, Norris, Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, and Lewis Hamilton.

Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix follows at 16:00 CEST (10:00 ET/00:00 AEST)

Results: Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, Free Practice 3