Sainz TOPS final practice despite Red Bull finally showing true pace at Italian Grand Prix

Sainz, Ferrari, Italie, 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

Italian Grand Prix

Sainz TOPS final practice despite Red Bull finally showing true pace at Italian Grand Prix

It's the second session the Ferrari driver has topped this weekend

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 2 September 2023 13:45 Updated: 14:16

Carlos Sainz topped final practice at the Italian Grand Prix, ahead of Max Verstappen, who is chasing a record tenth consecutive race win this weekend.

The Spaniard put in a quickest time of one minute 20.912 seconds, 0.086 seconds ahead of the world championship leader.

After some disrupted running on Friday due to multiple red flags and drivers wanting to save tyres with new regulations being tested this weekend, Saturday practice gave a best look yet at what we might see in qualifying.

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Verstappen was unable to get a clear fast lap in on Friday, which many thought may have been why we saw a Ferrari resurgence as Carlos Sainz topped the FP2 timseheets, but even with Verstappen putting in fast laps, Ferrari still had the pace to match and beat the Red Bull.

Sainz's team-mate Charles Leclerc also managed to put his car in fourth, 0.574 seconds behind Sainz, but on older soft tyres.

It wasn't all plain sailing for Ferrari, however, as Sainz was also given a black and white flag during the session for impeding the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

It's all building up nicely then going into qualifying, as Ferrari look to give their adoring home fans something to celebrate after a tough 2023 for the team so far.

More Perez woes

Sergio Perez hasn't had the best of weekends so far.

Having spun off on Friday in FP2, the Mexican would have been looking for a trouble-free session heading into qualifying.

However, after putting in some mediocre lap times in the early part of the session, Perez's car suffered an oil leak, meaning that he couldn't get back out onto the track.

The team will be hoping they can get it all sorted in time for qualifying, where the Mexican might be under pressure from the very quick Ferrari's and potentially the two Mercedes drivers too.

Mercedes looking quick

Mercedes have managed to tie down Hamilton and Russell until the end of 2025

Mercedes are on a high this weekend, having announced on Thursday that both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have signed a new contract keeping them at the team until atleast 2025.

However, this balloon looked to have burst on Friday, when Hamilton was complaining about the straight line pace of his car, and finished FP2 in 17th.

Final practice was much better for the team, however, as Hamilton managed to put his car in third place, 0.541 behind leader Sainz, and Russell was just a little further back in sixth.

The will be hoping they can challenge the Red Bull's in qualifying later on Saturday.