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Charles Bradley

F1 results: Carlos Sainz fastest in Italian GP practice on Friday

His teammate Charles Leclerc was fastest in FP1, before Sainz topped FP2 with the fastest time of the day.

Italian Grand Prix FP1 results: Leclerc fastest from Sainz

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 25 1'22.410     253.061
2 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 23 1'22.487 0.077 0.077 252.825
3 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 27 1'22.689 0.279 0.202 252.207
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 24 1'22.831 0.421 0.142 251.775
5 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 27 1'22.840 0.430 0.009 251.747
6 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 28 1'23.075 0.665 0.235 251.035
7 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 26 1'23.099 0.689 0.024 250.963
8 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 26 1'23.260 0.850 0.161 250.478
9 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 27 1'23.394 0.984 0.134 250.075
10 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 26 1'23.511 1.101 0.117 249.725
11 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 24 1'23.529 1.119 0.018 249.671
12 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 28 1'23.570 1.160 0.041 249.548
13 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 27 1'23.640 1.230 0.070 249.340
14 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 21 1'23.661 1.251 0.021 249.277
15 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 28 1'23.688 1.278 0.027 249.197
16 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 27 1'23.856 1.446 0.168 248.697
17 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 24 1'24.006 1.596 0.150 248.253
18 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Haas 25 1'24.317 1.907 0.311 247.338
19 Netherlands Nyck de Vries Aston Martin 22 1'24.731 2.321 0.414 246.129
20 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 24 1'24.941 2.531 0.210 245.521

What happened in Italian GP Free Practice 1?

Verstappen set the early pace at 1m22.853s on hard tyres, 1.173s ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine. Teams switched to soft tyres for the second half of the session, with Leclerc resetting the bar at 1m22.410s, over four tenths up on Verstappen’s time on hards.

Verstappen’s first run on softs was ruined by Lando Norris’s McLaren holding him up in the final sector, which cost him 0.43s to Leclerc’s time despite Max acing the opening sectors.

Sainz grabbed P2, 0.077s down on Leclerc, ahead of George Russell, a quarter of a second off in the first Mercedes, and Lewis Hamilton four tenths down in the second. Verstappen slipped to an unrepresentative fifth, ahead of the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Alonso.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez hit trouble with his DRS flap early on and languished down in 14th.

Ferrari reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi replaced Mick Schumacher at Haas for this session and was 18th fastest, three tenths off Kevin Magnussen.

Mercedes reserve Nyck de Vries, in for Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, briefly visited the gravel at Ascari and the former F2 and Formula E champion ended his day in 19th. Sainz mirrored his off in the closing moments during his long run on softs.

Italian Grand Prix FP2 results: Sainz fastest from Verstappen

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 24 1'21.664     255.373
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 27 1'21.807 0.143 0.143 254.926
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 23 1'21.857 0.193 0.050 254.771
4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 29 1'22.338 0.674 0.481 253.282
5 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 24 1'22.386 0.722 0.048 253.135
6 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 26 1'22.394 0.730 0.008 253.110
7 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 25 1'22.503 0.839 0.109 252.776
8 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 29 1'22.728 1.064 0.225 252.088
9 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 28 1'22.752 1.088 0.024 252.015
10 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 24 1'22.835 1.171 0.083 251.763
11 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 26 1'22.911 1.247 0.076 251.532
12 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 30 1'22.938 1.274 0.027 251.450
13 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 26 1'22.993 1.329 0.055 251.283
14 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 25 1'23.135 1.471 0.142 250.854
15 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 31 1'23.217 1.553 0.082 250.607
16 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 25 1'23.557 1.893 0.340 249.587
17 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 26 1'23.731 2.067 0.174 249.069
18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 27 1'23.785 2.121 0.054 248.908
19 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 23 1'23.982 2.318 0.197 248.324
20 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 9 1'24.586 2.922 0.604 246.551

What happened in Italian GP Free Practice 2?

Teams started this session on medium tyres, with Verstappen setting the bar at 1m23.021s. That was quickly cleared by Leclerc, who produced 1m22.307s.

Leclerc’s time was then pipped by Verstappen on 1m22.303s, putting him fastest by 0.004s. Sainz was third at this point, 0.18s off, and suffered a trip over the sleeping policemen at the Rettifilo chicane between his push laps. Perez was fourth, half a second away from the pace.

Verstappen locked up and shortcut the Rettifilo on his first push lap on softs but produced 1m21.807s on his second attempt. Moments later, Mick Schumacher’s stranded Haas brought out a red flag after suffering a power failure.

Before everyone switched to softs, some being caught out by the stoppage, Sainz’s run was delayed by a fix that was required inside his sidepod. He then grabbed the top spot as the session resumed with 1m21.664s, 0.143s up on Verstappen and 0.193s ahead of Leclerc.

Norris jumped up to fourth, half a second off third-placed Leclerc. Russell was the fastest Mercedes again, ahead of Perez, Hamilton and the Alpines of Ocon and Alonso.

Sainz had another couple of moments late on at the Rettifilo, while Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) visited the Lesmo gravel trap on multiple occasions and Alex Albon (Williams) took a wild trip through the gravel at the exit of the Ascari chicane.

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