Winner of the second free practice session on Friday, Carlos Sainz did it again during the final laps before qualifying scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
The Spanish driver (Ferrari) set the best time in the 3rd free practice session of the Italian Grand Prix, 14th round of the Formula 1 World Championship, on Saturday at the Monza circuit (5.793 km). He is almost half a second ahead of the undisputed leader of the season Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who is coveting a record tenth victory in F1 this weekend. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) completes the podium. The other Ferrari driven by Charles Leclerc finished fourth in this round, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) fifth.
More efficient on Friday, Sergio Pérez was only 10th on the time sheet, behind the Thai Alexander Albon (Williams), 9th. The Mexican driver from Red Bull, currently 2nd in the championship far behind his teammate Verstappen, had to stop his tests prematurely due to a mechanical problem on his RB19 less than three hours from the start of qualifying. In difficulty, the two Frenchmen from Alpine, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, finished 18th and 20th respectively.
Qualifying is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT) during which the teams will have to deal with a rule inaugurated for the first time during the Hungarian GP in July and which requires them to use certain types of tires in a defined order for qualifying. During the first part of qualifying (Q1) the drivers will have to put on hard rubber, then medium during Q2, to finish with soft tires in Q3, where pole position is at stake.
3rd free practice session:
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:20.912 (23 tours)
Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1:20.998 (23)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:21.453 (23)
Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:21.486 (23)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:21.711 (24)
George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:21.730 (25)
Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) 1:21.884 (21)
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 1:21.985 (27)
Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 1:22.054 (18)
Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) 1:22.192 (16)
Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:22.245 (31)
Liam Lawson (NZL/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1:22.296 (29)
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1:22.297 (28)
Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:22.302 (17)
Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes) 1:22.380 (23)
Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari ) 1:22.511 (30)
Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:22.515 (24)
Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:22.739 (20)
Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari ) 1:22.742 (30)
Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:22.852 (22)