Sebastian Vettel raised hopes of a home pole position for Ferrari after he finished quickest in final practice for the Italian Grand Prix.
Vettel ended the concluding running before qualifying at Monza, just 0.032 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas third and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc fourth.
Lewis Hamilton finished only sixth, three tenths off Vettel’s pace after he made a mistake.
The world champion, who holds a 65-point lead ahead of Sunday’s race, lost time after going too deep at the Ascari chicane.
The final practice session was delayed by 10 minutes following Alex Peroni’s terrifying airborne crash in a Formula Three race earlier on Saturday.
CLASSIFICATION: END OF FP3
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 7, 2019
Vettel takes P1, giving @ScuderiaFerrari a clean sweep of the practice sessions at their home weekend
Up next: qualifying in two hours! 🤲#F1 #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/S4lsMPSFq6
Peroni, the 19-year-old Australian, emerged unscathed from the accident, but the kerb which appeared to launch him airborne at the high-speed Parabolica corner, was subsequently removed by the FIA.
Leclerc finished fastest in both practice sessions on Friday, but it was the Monegasque’s Ferrari team-mate who led the way ahead of the battle for pole position.
The top six drivers were separated by just 0.301 seconds, with Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo one spot ahead of Hamilton.
British novice Lando Norris finished 14th for McLaren. Norris’ compatriot George Russell was 19th, two seconds off the pace.
