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MONZA, Italy, Sept 8 - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton beat Ferrari's Formula 1pacesetter Fernando Alonso by the blink of an eye in final practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Hamilton lapped the fastest track on the calendar with a best time of 1min24.578, just 0.001 quicker than the Spaniard.
Hamilton was also fastest during the second practice and will be gunning for McLaren's third pole position in a row in later qualifying.
Alonso has a 24 point lead in the championship over Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel after 12 of the 20 races. Vettel pulled off the track late in the session, telling his team he had "no battery".
Force India's Paul Di Resta was third fastest but will collect a five place penalty on the starting grid for an unscheduled gearbox change.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa, speculation swirling around his future at the team, lapped fourth fastest for his team's home race with team president Luca di Montezemolo watching from the garages.
McLaren's Jenson Button, winner at the 2012 Belgium Grand Prix, was fifth on the timesheets.
2012 Italian Grand Prix:
Third practice times:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1min24.578
2 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1min24.579
3 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 1min24.849
4 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1min24.909
5 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1min24.994
6 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min25.036
7 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 1min25.160
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus 1min25.255
9 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India 1min25.289
10 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1min25.383
11 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1min25.389
12 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1min25.406
13 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams 1min25.461
14 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 1min25.563
15 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber 1min25.689
16 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 1min25.706
17 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Belgium) Lotus 1min25.973
18 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 1min26.003
19 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham 1min26.657
20 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham 1min27.267
21 Charles Pic (France) Marussia 1min27.454
22 Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia 1min27.728
23 Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT 1min28.035
24 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) HRT 1min28.384
Second pratice times
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1min25.290
2 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1min25.328
3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1min25.348
4 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1min25.430
5 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min25.446
6 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus 1min25.504
7 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 1min25.546
8 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India 1min25.547
9 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 1min26.068
10 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 1min26.094
11 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1min26.104
12 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Belgium) Lotus 1min26.157
13 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1min26.394
14 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1min26.404
15 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 1min26.724
16 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber 1min26.730
17 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams 1min26.783
18 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham 1min26.841
19 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 1min26.864
20 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham 1min27.222
21 Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia 1min27.944
22 Charles Pic (France) Marussia 1min27.968
23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) HRT 1min28.575
24 Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT 1min28.779
First practice times:
1 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 1min25.422
2 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1min25.723
3 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min25.762
4 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1min25.800
5 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1min25.861
6 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1min25.944
7 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus 1min26.046
8 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 1min26.323
9 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1min26.390
10 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1min26.504
11 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1min26.508
12 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India 1min26.518
13 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 1min26.641
14 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber 1min26.746
15 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Belgium) Lotus 1min27.180
16 Jules Bianchi (France) Force India 1min27.192
17 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 1min27.37
18 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 1min27.789
19 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham 1min27.855
20 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham 1min28.578
21 Charles Pic (France) Marussia 1min28.751
22 Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia 1min29.207
23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) HRT 1min29.331
24 Ma Qinghua (China) HRT 1min31.239
Stay with Wheels24 for the Italian Grand Prix weekend!