F1 Results Today: Italian Grand Prix final practice time, positions and….

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George Russell delivered another strong performance for Mercedes by topping final practice for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, putting himself firmly among the favourites for pole position ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session.

Russell set the pace with a fastest lap of 1:22.219, finishing 0.226 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull, just 0.350s away from the Mercedes benchmark, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli completed the top four.

The result continues Russell’s impressive weekend at the Temple of Speed. He had already topped Friday’s second practice session, and his FP3 performance suggests Mercedes has found a competitive package for Monza’s long straights and low-downforce demands.

 

Hamilton once again showed strong pace for Ferrari, finishing second after Ferrari had dominated the opening practice session with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton securing the top two positions.

 

Lando Norris was fifth for McLaren, followed by Leclerc in sixth. Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad impressed in seventh, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

 

Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto completed the top 10 for Alpine.

 

Italian Grand Prix FP3 results

 

Position| Driver| Team| Time/Gap

1| George Russell| Mercedes| 1:22.219

2| Lewis Hamilton| Ferrari| +0.226s

3| Max Verstappen| Red Bull| +0.350s

4| Kimi Antonelli| Mercedes| +0.361s

5| Lando Norris| McLaren| +0.406s

6| Charles Leclerc| Ferrari| +0.489s

7| Arvid Lindblad| Racing Bulls| +0.505s

8| Oscar Piastri| McLaren| +0.554s

9| Pierre Gasly| Alpine| +0.679s

10| Franco Colapinto| Alpine| +0.882s

11| Nico Hulkenberg| Audi| +0.907s

12| Liam Lawson| Red Bull| +0.984s

13| Gabriel Bortoleto| Audi| +1.079s

14| Oliver Bearman| Haas| +1.366s

15| Yuki Tsunoda| Racing Bulls| +1.598s

16| Carlos Sainz| Williams| +1.656s

17| Esteban Ocon| Haas| +1.801s

18| Alex Albon| Williams| +2.218s

19| Fernando Alonso| Aston Martin| +2.700s

20| Valtteri Bottas| Cadillac| +2.785s

21| Sergio Perez| Cadillac| +2.812s

22| Lance Stroll| Aston Martin| +3.336s

 

Mercedes sends warning ahead of qualifying

 

The battle for pole is shaping up to be particularly close, with Russell, Hamilton and Verstappen separated by less than four-tenths of a second.

 

Monza’s long straights also made slipstreaming a major talking point during FP3, with several drivers looking for a tow to gain additional speed on the circuit’s high-speed sections. Mercedes appeared particularly focused on this tactic, with Antonelli helping Russell during his fastest run.

 

Antonelli’s fourth-place finish is particularly notable given that the championship leader is set to start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid following an engine-related penalty. That means his FP3 pace will be of limited benefit for his starting position, but it could prove useful when Mercedes begins planning its race strategy.

 

Qualifying next at Monza

 

With final practice now complete, attention turns to qualifying, where Russell will look to convert Mercedes’ strong practice pace into pole position.

 

Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix is scheduled for 4:00pm local time on Saturday, with the race following on Sunday at 3:00pm local time.

The closely matched times at the front suggest that Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull could all be in contention for the front of the grid when qualifying gets underway.