McLaren's Oscar Piastri tops third practice for Italian Grand Prix at Imola

First, Alonso, 42, lost control of his Aston Martin through the penultimate corner in Imola, spinning backwards and into the tyre barrier.

The double world champion sustained extensive to the rear of his Aston Martin with his mechanics now facing a race against time to fix his machine for qualifying which starts at 4pm local time (3pm BST).

Then, in the closing moments, Perez beached his Red Bull in the gravel after he got out out of shape on the entry to the Variante Alta chicane and hit the wall.

The one-hour session was suspended for eight minutes as Alonso's stricken car was recovered, and then an additional four minutes to deal with Perez's car.

And when practice resumed, it was Piastri who clocked the fastest time, finishing three tenths clear of Miami Grand Prix winner Norris to raise the prospect of a second McLaren victory in as many races.

At Ferrari's home event, Carlos Sainz finished third, half-a-second back, one place clear of team-mate Charles Leclerc.

George Russell finished fifth for Mercedes with Max Verstappen, who did not post a time on the speediest soft tyres, sixth. Lewis Hamilton was 17th.

FP3 Times for the Italian Grand Prix at Imola:

1 Oscar Piastri, McLaren 1:15.529
2 Lando Norris, McLaren + 0.300
3 Carlos Sainz, Ferrari + 0.538
4 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari + 0.558    
5 George Russell, Mercedes + 0.566    
6 Max Verstappen, Red Bull + 0.837
7 Alex Albon, Williams + 0.941
8 Esteban Ocon, Alpine + 0.952
9 Lance Stroll, Aston Martin + 1.014
10 Nico Hulkenberg, Haas + 1.018
11 Daniel Ricciardo, Team RB + 1.031
12 Sergio Perez, Red Bull + 1.102
13 Yuki Tsunoda, Team RB + 1.139
14 Valtteri Bottas, Kick Sauber + 1.166    
15 Logan Sargeant, Williams + 1.265
16 Kevin Magnussen, Haas + 1.394
17 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes + 1.431    
18 Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin + 1.810    
19 Pierre Gasly, Alpine + 1.832    
20 Guanyu Zhou, Kick Sauber + 2.362