Practice Three for the Italian Grand Prix quickly proved to be a battle of the McLarens in an interesting tussle between Hamilton's low-downforce package and Jenson Button's f-duct with the two trading blows as the Red Bulls and Ferraris also got involved in the fight.In the end, though, it was Hamilton who emerged quickest of all, beating the late-charging Sebastian Vettel by 0.047s. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were next in line, ahead of Button and Nico Rosberg.
And the great news ahead of qualifying: the top six were separated by less than half a second.
Report: Sunshine, blue sky, a track temperature of 17'C and a large crowd awaited the drivers for the start of the final practice session for the Italian GP. McLaren have opted for two different strategies this morning with Lewis Hamilton running the low-downforce package and Jenson Button the f-duct car. As soon as the track was green-lighted, the drivers headed out for their installation laps with both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber running the flow-visibility paint to test the new parts on their RB6's rear wings.
Glock posted the first time of the morning, a 1:29.334 but was easily beaten by Michael Schumacher, despite the German locking up through the chicane. Robert Kubica was the next to lead the way before he was overhauled by both McLarens with first Button and then Hamilton going quickest. Hamilton clocked a 1:24.100.
Hamilton's reign was short-lived as Button again went fastest only to lose out to his team-mate again. And again by eight-tenths of a second. Button, though, came back at Hamilton, fastest through the first two seconds as he closed the gap to just 0.036s to his team-mate.
Meanwhile, in the Merc GP garage, the team were altering the weight distribution for Schumacher, moving weight forward in the car. The seven-time World Champ had dropped to 12th place at the halfway stage of the session while his team-mate Nico Rosberg was P15.
Vettel took the fight to McLaren, moving up into third place, 0.256s adrift of Hamilton. His team-mate Webber improved to fourth, a further 0.4s off the pace. Nico Hulkenberg was fifth, followed by Kubica, Sebastien Buemi and Rubens Barrichello. Vettel and Webber continued lapping, taking second and third places ahead of Button. Fernando Alonso climbed to fifth place with Felipe Massa taking sixth, both just over half a second slower than Hamilton. Massa, though, hit the gravel at the second Lesmo on his next lap before heading back to the pits.
Alonso continued his run, moving up to third place behind Hamilton and Vettel while Schumacher ventured out for a short run before pitting again without improving on his 14th place. Button overhauled Hamilton at the top with a 1:22.858. Massa took second place. Problems for Webber as he stopped at the exit of the first chicane as it appeared as if his engine just shut down on him. Jaime Alguersuari joined the list of those experiencing the Italian gravel as he ran wide at the second Lesmo.
Vettel climbed to second place behind Button as Schumacher, using the softer option tyres, could only improve to 12th, 1.074s off the pace. Button, also on the softer tyres, lowered the benchmark time to a 1:22.768 but was beaten by Alonso, who went 0.112s quicker. Alonso went slightly quicker on his next lap as did Button, however, it was Hamilton who went quickest of all with a 1:22.498. Massa slotted into third place and Rosberg to sixth.
The session ended with Hamilton and his low-downforce package in the P1 slot with a 1:22.498 while Sebastian Vettel was next in line, followed by Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Button and his f-duct.
Times
01. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.498 19 laps
02. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:22.545 + 0.047 21 laps
03. Alonso Ferrari 1:22.644 + 0.146 15 laps
04. Massa Ferrari 1:22.648 + 0.150 16 laps
05. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.724 + 0.226 19 laps
06. Rosberg Mercedes 1:22.946 + 0.448 17 laps
07. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:23.082 + 0.584 9 laps
08. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:23.129 + 0.631 18 laps
09. Kubica Renault 1:23.209 + 0.711 20 laps
10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:23.303 + 0.805 19 laps
11. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:23.450 + 0.952 19 laps
12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.673 + 1.175 20 laps
13. Schumacher Mercedes 1:23.896 + 1.398 21 laps
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:23.908 + 1.410 24 laps
15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.909 + 1.411 17 laps
16. Petrov Renault 1:23.967 + 1.469 19 laps
17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:24.191 + 1.693 19 laps
18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:24.439 + 1.941 15 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:25.788 + 3.290 14 laps
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:25.925 + 3.427 16 laps
21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:26.434 + 3.936 18 laps
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:26.682 + 4.184 19 laps
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:27.471 + 4.973 18 laps
24. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:28.730 + 6.232 14 laps
Source: Planet-F1
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