Motor racing-Sainz again fastest for Ferrari in final Monza practice

Carlos Sainz, the Spanish driver for Ferrari, continued to dominate the Formula One practice sessions at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Sainz, who was fastest overall on Friday, set the pace once again in the final session before qualifying, posting a best lap time of one minute 20.912 seconds. The home crowd at Monza’s famous “Temple of Speed” was thrilled with Sainz’s performance.

Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver who is on a nine-race winning streak, secured the second-fastest time, 0.86 seconds slower than Sainz. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished third, but he lagged behind the Ferrari by over half a second.

Despite his impressive performance, Sainz was penalized with a black and white flag for impeding Oscar Piastri of McLaren. Charles Leclerc, who started from pole position last year in a race won by Verstappen, achieved the fourth-fastest time for Ferrari. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and George Russell of Mercedes completed the top six.

Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s Mexican teammate and closest competitor, could only secure the tenth-fastest time and ended the session early due to car issues. Perez currently trails Verstappen by 138 points in the championship standings after 13 out of 22 races in a season dominated by Red Bull, who have won all the races and the last 14 consecutively.

Lando Norris of McLaren, on the other hand, finished in a disappointing seventeenth place and voiced his frustration during the session. He complained that he had to go off track to avoid Guanyu Zhou’s Alfa Romeo and criticized other drivers for not being more aware of their surroundings. Zhou also received a black and white flag.

This report was filed by Alan Baldwin and edited by Hugh Lawson.