FP3: Hamilton edges Vettel at Monza

Lewis Hamilton set the pace in a frantic finish to final practice at Monza while Sebastian Vettel split the Mercedes pairing, 0.264s off the pace.

With heavy overnight rain resulting in a damp circuit, FP3 got off to a very slow start. Even as the track began to dry out, most of the drivers opted not to run.

The first 30 minutes of FP3 saw just two drivers set times as the Toro Rosso rookies of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz put in a few timed laps.

However, heading into the second half of Practice Three they swapped over to the medium tyres and that heralded the arrival of more cars out on track.

Ferrari had a brief run at the front with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen holding down the 1-2.

That ended when Nico Rosberg crossed the line with a 1:25.480. Hamilton's flying lap on the medium tyres ended at Turn 1 when he got his braking wrong and took to the escape road.

Swapping to the soft tyres for the final few minutes, Vettel got it wrong at Turn 5 on his first attempt while Rosberg laid down his marker with a 1:24.908.

That, however, was beaten by Hamilton, who did a 1:24.544. Vettel slotted into second, 0.264s down with Rosberg improving on his second lap but staying third.

Valtteri Bottas was fourth for Williams ahead of Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado.

There were more troubles for Red Bull as Daniel Ricciardo, out for his soft tyre run, broke down at the Roggie chicane. "Don't change gears" is what he was told moments before his car rolled to a stop.

Times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.544 18 laps
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:24.808 +0.264 12 laps
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.843 0.299 19 laps
4 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:24.946 0.402 14 laps
5 Felipe Massa Williams 1:25.165 0.621 14 laps
6 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:25.242 0.698 11 laps
7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:25.244 0.700 13 laps
8 Sergio Perez Force India 1:25.515 0.971 14 laps
9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:25.692 1.148 17 laps
10 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:25.747 1.203 8 laps
11 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:25.912 1.368 17 laps
12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:26.141 1.597 13 laps
13 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:26.632 2.088 9 laps
14 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.750 2.206 14 laps
15 Will Stevens Manor 1:28.123 3.579 13 laps
16 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:28.215 3.671 25 laps
17 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:28.591 4.047 10 laps
18 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:28.628 4.084 23 laps
19 Roberto Merhi Manor 1:29.117 4.573 11 laps
20 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:29.900 5.356 7 laps