Hamilton fastest in final practice

MONZA, Italy (Reuters) - Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton completed a sweep of Italian Grand Prix practice with the top time in Saturday's final session before qualifying.

Hamilton fastest in final practice

(Reuters)





The Mercedes driver, who was quickest in both Friday's sessions and will be gunning for an 11th pole in 12 races, lapped the historic circuit with a best time of one minute 24.544 seconds.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel gave the home fans something to cheer about with the second best time, 0.264 seconds slower than Hamilton whose Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg was third on the timesheets.

Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, both recently confirmed for next season by the Mercedes-powered team, were fourth and fifth ahead of the Lotus of Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull rolled to a stop during the session, with the team blaming a hydraulics problem. The Australian was already facing a 25 place grid penalty for an earlier engine change.

Team principal Christian Horner had said before the session that it made sense for the team to take penalties at a power circuit that they will struggle on in order to give themselves the best chance for Singapore later this month.

"Monza’s not obviously a circuit that suits us particularly. We've got the penalties as well, so you know that’s obviously a strategic thing as well - take the penalty here rather than in Singapore where we expect to be very competitive," said Ricciardo.

"Singapore, we can really fight for a podium there."





(Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world