George Russell fastest ahead of Lewis Hamilton in final Italian Grand Prix practice

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]Russell[/a], who ‌is second overall and level on points with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Hamilton[/a] in ‌the championship but ahead 2-1 on wins, lapped ‌with a best time of one minute 22.219 seconds at the fastest track on the calendar and one of the ‌most historic.[/p][p]Seven-time world champion Hamilton, who is ⁠going for a ‌record sixth Italian Grand Prix win at Monza, was 0.226 slower at the "Temple of Speed", a slipstreaming track where drivers seek an aerodynamic tow from others to go faster.[/p][p]Russell's teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a], the first Italian in 73 years to be leading the championship ⁠at the Monza race, ​was fourth fastest with Red Bull's 2025 winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] third.[/p][p]Antonelli, 59 points ahead of Russell and Hamilton, is set to start from the back of the grid ‌due to engine penalties -- giving his rivals a great chance to cut the gap to the top.[/p][embed guid="fe7af362-c667-4922-bb31-dcf83d661c6f" url="https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/2096199661719543882" social-type="twitter" /][p]Russell was also fastest on Friday after a Ferrari one-two in the opening session.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Lando Norris[/a], McLaren's reigning world champion and winner of the last two races, was fifth, 0.406 off the pace, with Ferrari's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a] sixth.[/p][p]Racing Bulls' [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lindblad-arvid/bgk1rl5a/"]Arvid Lindblad[/a] was seventh followed by McLaren's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar ‌Piastri[/a] with Alpine's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gasly-pierre/nqYFMBBf/"]Pierre Gasly[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/colapinto-franco/GzFqySBA/"]Franco Colapinto[/a] completing ​the top 10.[/p][p]Hamilton and Verstappen almost collided in ‌a late clash, after Hamilton passed the Red Bull at Parabolica before the Ferrari ultimately ran wide, with the stewards taking note.[/p][p]"He caused that," said Verstappen over the radio. "I got blocked by Max," ⁠said Hamilton.[/p][p]The top 12 ⁠were all within ‌a second of Russell's time.[/p]