Sebastian Vettel kept his Red Bull on top of the timesheets for third and final practice ahead of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, but didn’t enjoy the same advantage as FP2.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso closed the gap to just under three tenths, splitting the Red Bull pair as Mark Webber could only manage third place just ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
Sergio Perez put in a surprise performance to go fifth quickest, as did new Red Bull recruit Daniel Ricciardo in sixth – the pair just half a second down on Vettel.
The top 13 cars were covered by less than a second, though it would likely have been 14 had Nico Rosberg not suffered from overheating issues. The German completed just five laps before his session ended and the team had to take his car apart.
Paul di Resta’s session was also cut short after he went off at the Parabolica and hit the barriers, heavily damaging his Force India.
FP3 Times – 2013 Italian Grand Prix:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:24.360 | 18 | |
| 02 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:24.643 | +0.283 | 13 |
| 03 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:24.677 | +0.317 | 22 |
| 04 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:24.712 | +0.352 | 17 |
| 05 | S. Perez | McLaren | 1:24.864 | +0.504 | 19 |
| 06 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:24.865 | +0.505 | 19 |
| 07 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:24.995 | +0.635 | 14 |
| 08 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:25.103 | +0.743 | 15 |
| 09 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:25.116 | +0.756 | 20 |
| 10 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:25.120 | +0.760 | 18 |
| 11 | J-E. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:25.136 | +0.776 | 16 |
| 12 | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1:25.273 | +0.913 | 21 |
| 13 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:25.324 | +0.964 | 22 |
| 14 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:25.499 | +1.139 | 17 |
| 15 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:25.660 | +1.300 | 21 |
| 16 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:25.702 | +1.342 | 19 |
| 17 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:26.120 | +1.760 | 11 |
| 18 | C. Pic | Caterham | 1:26.607 | +2.247 | 21 |
| 19 | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 1:27.172 | +2.812 | 20 |
| 20 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:27.605 | +3.245 | 18 |
| 21 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:27.665 | +3.305 | 18 |
| 22 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:27.822 | +3.462 | 5 |
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