FP3: Mixed fortunes at Merc

Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets in final practice for the Italian GP while his team-mate Nico Rosberg failed to set a time.

Putting in the laps at the start of the hour-long session, Rosberg was soon back in the pits with three laps but no times to his tally.

His mechanics went to work on his W05 revealing that it was a gearbox issue and that the German would not run again in the session.

While Rosberg watched on, Hamilton proved to be the driver to beat.

The British racer, who needs a good result this weekend to claw back some of his deficit to Rosberg, posted a 1:25.742 on the hard tyres.

Swapping to the mediums in the final ten minutes, the Mercedes driver needed two flying laps to up his pace. He finished with a 1:25.519 and was fastest through the speed trap with a 352.7km/h.

Fernando Alonso was second quickest, 0.412s down. The Ferrari driver, though, was only eighth quickest through the speed trap with a 344.1km/h.

Valtteri Bottas was third, 0.571s off the pace, while Felipe Massa concluded a good morning for Williams with the fourth fastest time.

Jenson Button was fifth ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat.

Meanwhile, Sergio Perez’s session ended early when he rolled to a stop at the Curva Grande with his Force India stuck between gears. He finished P13.

Times
01 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:25.519 23 laps
02 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:25.931 +0.412 13 laps
03 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:26.090 +0.571 19 laps
04 Felipe Massa Williams 1:26.114 +0.595 18 laps
05 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.242 +0.723 21 laps
06 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:26.290 +0.771 17 laps
07 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:26.327 +0.808 15 laps
08 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:26.437 +0.918 21 laps
09 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:26.482 +0.963 16 laps
10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:26.608 +1.089 17 laps
11 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:26.829 +1.310 20 laps
12 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:27.207 +1.688 18 laps
13 Sergio Perez Force India 1:27.312 +1.793 10 laps
14 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:27.479 +1.960 22 laps
15 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:27.498 +1.979 12 laps
16 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:28.025 +2.506 19 laps
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:28.137 +2.618 20 laps
18 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:28.265 +2.746 21 laps
19 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:28.459 +2.940 14 laps
20 Max Chilton Marussia 1:28.579 +3.060 19 laps
21 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:29.251 +3.732 22 laps
22 Nico Rosberg Mercedes No time 3 laps