Monza, Sep 5 (IANS) George Russell topped the timesheets again in the practice sessions ahead of Saturday qualifying as he showed his muscle with a time of 1:22.219 at the Italian GP in Monza.

Russell, who clinched the fastest time in the second practice session, was quickest of the pack in the final practice outing at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, leading the field ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

The British driver seemed hard to stop and made the most of the raw pace that Mercedes have at what is a very fast track and is also known as the ‘temple of speed’. Ferrari too showed the Tifosi their upgraded strength at their home race as Hamilton was second and little more than two tenths behind Russell.

It was a significantly better one-hour session for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was ninth in the FP2 after he skipped the first practice. He found himself ahead of current title leader Kimi Antonelli, who was fourth and more than three and a half tenths behind his partner, while Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc had the fifth and the sixth fastest time.

Racing Bulls driver and rookie Arvid Lindblad continued his impressive outing as he was seventh in the timesheets, ahead of Oscar Piastri, who was wrecked with traffic in one of his laps as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto wrapped up the top 10.

As the lights went green in the final practice, Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg of Audi began their initial laps before the two Alpines joined them.

Gasly set the fastest time after the first 15 minutes of the hour-long session, but was replaced by Antonelli at the halfway mark. Antonelli will start the Sunday race from the back of the grid for his planned engine change and is set to provide tow to Russell in the qualifying.

The yellow flags went up in the final half hour of the practice when Liam Lawson spun in the first chicane as Albon was warned for not following the Race Director’s instructions regarding the escape road.

Russell went fastest later with a time of 1m 22.697s as the session entered the final 15 minutes, where there was a flurry of quicker times. He clocked another fiery lap when he timed 1m 22.219s, as it remained the quickest time of the session ahead of qualifying.

–IANS

vm/bsk/