Carlos Sainz retained top spot in FP3 of F1 Italian GP pushing Max Verstappen to second with Lewis Hamilton in third.

The weather remained dry in FP3 of F1 Italian GP at Monza as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz upped his pace to retain top spot with a 1m20.912s lap which was only 0.086s quicker than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, but enough to beat them for the second session in a row.

Sainz was shown black and white flag after another mishap with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the pit exit. The Spaniard tried to get back on the racing line at Turn 1 when the Australian came in and tried to pass him with another miss-communication from Ferrari side.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was third from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who had to abort his final push lap due to a moment on the gravel. The Monegasque came back out for another lap to be fourth, while the Brit too had a off moment due to traffic.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was fifth from Mercedes’ George Russell with the Haas pair showing one lap pace with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg in seventh and eighth. They were ahead of Williams’ Alexander Albon, who set his best lap on the hard tyre.

The Top 10 was rounded out by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who missed much of the session in the second part of FP3. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 11th from he AlphaTauri pair of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, where the Kiwi was ahead of the Japanese driver.

Piastri was 14th as he also had a gravel moment in the middle of the session as did Williams’ Logan Sargeant in the same corner, who ended up 15th. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was 16th where the AlphaTauri pair and Piastri set their best time on medium tyre.

Sargeant and Bottas set their best on the hard compound, with the Finn too with gravel run. McLaren’s Lando Norris was only 17th where the Brit also had a moment with Alfa Romeo car in terms of not getting out of way. He had to ride the kerb to get though.

The Alpine pair did not get a good lap time in with Esteban Ocon only 18th and Pierre Gasly 20th behind from Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, where Ocon and Guanyu set their best time on the hard compound.

Here’s what was said after Friday of F1 Italian GP

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