Verstappen and Hamilton provide fireworks with near-miss at Monza

The on-track tussle between the two had already begun at the Parabolica, with Hamilton and Verstappen exiting the final corner side by side before launching into a drag race that continued all the way down the main straight towards the opening chicane.

As they reached Turn 1, Verstappen sent his RB22 fully down the inside, forcing Hamilton to move sharply to the left to avoid a collision. The Ferrari driver was consequently forced to cut the chicane as the pair narrowly avoided making contact.

“He caused that,” the four-time world champion then complained over team radio, having already given the Ferrari driver an ironic thumbs-up while the pair were still battling down the straight.

As for the session itself, Alpine initially led the way at Monza, with Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly trading the top spot on the medium tyres before the frontrunners joined the action. Kimi Antonelli was the first of the leading contenders to set the pace on soft tyres, before George Russell took over at the top with a 1:22.687 after benefiting from a strong tow through the first sector.

Ferrari responded with 20 minutes remaining as Charles Leclerc climbed to second, two tenths behind Russell and narrowly ahead of Antonelli, with Lewis Hamilton fourth.

Russell then underlined Mercedes’ pace in the closing stages, improving further to a 1:22.219 to remain at the top of the timesheets. Hamilton made a late jump to second after also benefiting from a tow, finishing two tenths behind his teammate, while Verstappen moved back into third, three tenths off the benchmark. The session also featured a Turn 1 spin for Liam Lawson, who clipped the kerb with his front-left tyre but was able to recover and continue without consequences.