The Spanish driver Carlos Sainz offered pole position to Ferrari this Saturday for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, beating the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) by 13 thousandths of a second.
In the home race of the ‘prancing horse’ team, Sainz set the best qualifying lap in the last attempt, when the curtain fell, lapping in 1.20.294 minutes, while Verstappen, leader of the championship, was second, with the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) third, 0.067 seconds behind.
“The three of us were at the limit but I took a risk [curva] Ascari and Parabolica and it paid off”, commented the Spanish pilot at the end.
This was the fourth ‘pole position’ of Sainz’s career, the first of the season, at a circuit where his teammate won in 2022.
“I’m proud. I even get goosebumps. Tomorrow [domingo] I will give it all. max [Verstappen] Normally he has a fast car in the races, so a good start is needed,” he also stressed.
The Dutchman, for his part, was “happy to be second”, after having made “some improvements compared to free practice” with the team on Friday.
The British George Russell was the best Mercedes, in fourth position, while his compatriot Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) did not go beyond eighth place, ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren) and the Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).
While the top nine were within half a second of Sainz, Alonso finished by 1.2sec, showing that Aston Martin’s progress in the final race was not as expected.
The Mexican Sérgio Pérez (Red Bull) was fifth, ahead of the Thai Alexander Albon (Williams) and the Australian Óscar Piastri (McLaren).
The Italian GP is the fourteenth race of the season.
Source: TSF
