Mercedes reveals Italian GP tow plan in FP3 as Hamilton and Verstappen almost crash

Mercedes practiced the tow ahead of Saturday’s qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, with George Russell setting the pace in FP3 ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli will start Sunday’s Grand Prix from the very back of the grid due to an engine penalty, which prompted Mercedes to practice having the Italian tow Russell as the slipstream is very effective at Monza.

Mercedes practise tow ahead of Italian Grand Prix qualifying

Gabriel Bortoleto was the first driver to venture out of the pits in FP3, with the track temperature reaching 50°C as the pit lane light changed to green.

Alex Albon made it just a few metres out of the Williams garage before coming to a stop, with his mechanics pushing his FW48 back into the garage. “Something is wrong with my steering wheel, it’s like I can’t turn. It’s jammed,” he told the team.

Franco Colapinto got the timesheet rolling with a 1:26.561. He lowered the benchmark to a 1:23.766 15 minutes into the session, with only 11 drivers having set times. Lance Stroll was the slowest of the 11 by three-and-a-half seconds.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli entered the fray shortly after, but there was no sign of his teammate George Russell, who wasn’t in the garage. Antonelli posted a 1:23.032 to go P1 as Russell finally walked into the Mercedes garage.

Yuki Tsunoda was noted for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions as he took the wrong route through the escape road after going off at the Turn 4 chicane.

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Charles Leclerc went second quickest, two-tenths of a second down on Antonelli, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton had a moment at the second Lesmo and put his left-side wheels in the gravel. Oscar Piastri came within inches of making a similar mistake.

Leclerc’s lap time was deleted for track limits at Turn 7, Carlos Sainz lost his going off at Turn 9, while Alex Albon was also noted for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions as he took the wrong route through an escape road. Albon was warned for his infringement.

Liam Lawson, in the Red Bull RB22 for the second successive weekend, went spinning at Turn 1. “I mean, the rear in low speed,” he said. “There was nothing I could do.”

Leclerc’s previously deleted lap time was reinstated, putting the Ferrari driver P2 behind Antonelli, and ahead of Pierre Gasly and Max Verstappen. Verstappen, running the medium tyres, improved to second place, 0.068s slower than Antonelli.

Antonelli gave Russell a tow on the run to Curve Grande, leading to a 1:22.687 for the Briton. That was over three-tenths faster than Antonelli’s best. Leclerc split the Mercedes teammates in second place.

Lawson had a moment in the traffic with Russell, who told Mercedes that he had nowhere to go. Meanwhile, Hamilton told his race engineer Carlo Santi that he “cannot see over my rear tyres” so he needed a bit more help in the traffic.

Mercedes was the first team out for its late-session qualifying simulation. Russell upped his pace to a 1:22.463 and then a 1:22.219. Antonelli went quicker to leapfrog Leclerc for second place.

Arvid Lindblad used a tow to improve in fourth place ahead of Lando Norris and Verstappen. The latter was frustrated with Ferrari, telling his race engineer GianPiero Lambiase: “This f***ing Ferrari again. My God, always in the way.”

Hamilton made a late run to move up into second place, two-tenths down on Russell, with Verstappen up to third place and Norris fifth.

On track for one final flying lap, Hamilton and Verstappen had a moment as the Ferrari driver overtook the Red Bull only for Verstappen to fight back as they raced like it was a Sunday. The team almost touched before Hamilton went off at chicane. Both drivers backed out of their laps.

The session ended with Russell quickest of all, ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen.

Italian Grand Prix: FP3 top ten

1 George Russell Mercedes 1:22.219
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:22.445
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:22.569
4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:22.580
5 Lando Norris McLaren 1:22.625
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:22.708
7 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:22.724
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:22.898
9 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:23.022
10 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:23.101

The full results from FP3 at the Italian Grand Prix

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