Lando Norris just pipped Charles Leclerc to the fastest time of final practice at Monza to set up a potentially grandstand battle between McLaren and home favourites Ferrari for Italian Grand Prix pole position.

A last-gasp lap propelled Leclerc, who had made a mistake on his first soft-tyre run, from 10th to second to finish just 0.021s behind Norris, who had earlier set the pace on a 1:19.331.

Leclerc did, though, benefit from a lap-time-boosting tow from a handily positioned Haas car ahead at the start of his final lap, so McLaren do still appear favourites for pole – but the margins around Monza remain incredibly tight.

In terms of the world championship battle, Norris will again take a pace edge over title-leading team-mate Oscar Piastri into qualifying after outpacing the Australian, who finished third, by 0.165s.

A week after topping all three practice sessions at Zandvoort only to lose out on pole position to Piastri, Norris will head into the 3pm qualifying hour live on Sky Sports F1 on the back of fastest times in the final two practice sessions.

There was again little to choose between the leading cars, with just under four tenths of a second covering the top 10, while the whole 20-car field was separated by less than one second.

“McLaren look very strong, but behind them it’s very tight and there’s still hope for us that maybe someone can challenge the McLarens,” said Sky Sports F1’s Nico Rosberg.

“Ferrari have looked rapid since the get-go here. We will have a very interesting qualifying.”

Max Verstappen’s promising start at Monza continued as he took fourth for Red Bull, while George Russell showed Mercedes’ best form of the weekend so far to finish close behind in fifth.

Verstappen was involved in the session’s most heated incident with Haas’ Esteban Ocon at the first chicane, when the latter cut back ahead of the Red Bull after initially being passed on the inside.

Verstappen was left unimpressed and said on team radio: “He’s such a ****”. He then overtook before the second chicane, repelling Ocon’s attempts to get past again. The pair infamously had a post-race bust-up at the 2018 Brazilian GP following an on-track collision.

Lewis Hamilton, who carries a five-place grid penalty into qualifying, slipped to seventh behind Gabriel Bortoleto as Sauber at least temporarily supplanted Friday stars Williams as the team to most-closely challenge the leading four outfits.

“Need some more juice. Need some more speed somehow,” said Hamilton on Ferrari team radio after lapping over 0.2s off the pace.

Isack Hadjar, fresh from his impressive maiden podium in the Netherlands last Sunday, was eighth ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who had a crucial straightforward session after beaching his car in second practice, and the lead Williams of Alex Albon.

Sky Sports F1’s Italian GP Schedule

Sunday September 7
7.10am: F3 Feature Race
8.40am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Italian GP build-up
2pm: THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Italian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1’s European season concludes with the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday with lights out at 2pm and build-up from 12.30pm on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime