Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were cleared by the FIA stewards after a feisty flashpoint in final practice for the Italian Grand Prix that briefly turned FP3 at Monza into a qualifying duel down the pit straight.
Wheel-to-wheel at 200mph
In the closing minutes of the session, with drivers jostling for position before their last flying laps, Hamilton appeared to jump ahead of Verstappen in the queue exiting the pit lane. What should have been a routine formation for time attacks erupted into something much sharper.
The two champions ran side by side at full speed along the pit straight, neither willing to yield. Verstappen, having given Hamilton a quick thumbs up as they thundered towards Turn 1, then threw his Red Bull down the inside under heavy braking into the first chicane.
Hamilton had nowhere to go. The Ferrari driver cut across the run-off, skipping the chicane to avoid contact as the move unfolded inches from disaster.
Both laps were ruined. Both drivers backed off. And both immediately blamed the other.
“He caused that,” Verstappen snapped over Red Bull team radio.
“I got blocked by Max, so…” Hamilton reported to Ferrari.
His race engineer, Carlo Santi, coolly replied: “Yes, we saw.”
The stewards reviewed the incident and chose not to pursue it, confirming there would be no further action against either Hamilton or Verstappen.
Old rivalry, familiar edge
The flashpoint arrived against a familiar backdrop of irritation from Verstappen’s cockpit. Shortly beforehand, the Red Bull driver had already vented about traffic, complaining about a Ferrari “always” in the way.
The trigger this time came at Lesmo 1. Sergio Perez’s Cadillac had run wide, scattering gravel across the racing line and unsettling the cars behind. Verstappen, with a Ferrari also in the mix, voiced his anger over team radio, grumbling about the scarlet car disrupting his run yet again.
The tension didn’t spill into penalties, but the body language on track and the radio barbs underlined that the competitive edge between Hamilton and Verstappen remains razor sharp, even in practice.
Russell sets the pace
Away from the drama, George Russell quietly owned the timesheets.
The Mercedes driver topped FP3 with a 1:22.219, laying down a marker ahead of qualifying. Hamilton slotted into second, 0.226 seconds slower than his team-mate, with Verstappen 0.350s off Russell’s benchmark in third.
Russell’s session was not entirely straightforward. He too found himself under the stewards’ gaze after Oscar Piastri came across a slow-moving Mercedes at the apex of Lesmo 1. The McLaren driver had to back off significantly as Russell lingered on the racing line.
Once again, the officials opted against sanctions. No further action was taken on the impeding incident, preserving Russell’s session-topping effort and keeping the grid’s big names out of trouble on the timesheet, if not entirely out of each other’s way.
Monza tension rising
So the final practice hour ended with no penalties, no damaged cars, but plenty of needle.
Hamilton and Verstappen left the stewards’ room with clean records for the afternoon, yet their on-track skirmish felt like a reminder. Give them half a gap, half a chance, and even in practice they will race.
At Monza, that instinct rarely stays quiet for long.
