We get exclusive access to Carlos Sainz’s leaked contract. Rob gets a new watch. Michael pronounces a word correctly.

Max Verstappen makes history, winning an unprecedented 10th consecutive grand prix by beating Carlos Sainz to top spot in Monza.

Ferrari couldn’t stop Max Verstappen from winning a record-breaking 10th consecutive grand prix on what was an entertaining afternoon in Monza — so long as you weren’t McLaren principal Andrea Stella, who had to watch Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris engage in friendly fire partway through the race.

Max Verstappen cruised to a record-breaking 10th consecutive victory after seizing the lead from pole-getter Carlos Sainz after 15 laps.

Verstappen had been confident ahead of the race that his Red Bull Racing car had the better race pace, and by lap 4 of the grand prix he was already noting that the leading Ferrari car was struggling with its tires.

On lap 6, Verstappen was testing Sainz’s defenses with an attempted move around the outside into the first turn, though the Spaniard rebuffed him easily by closing the door through the chicane. But what seemed like only a matter of time suddenly started to appear in doubt. Charles Leclerc, who had held third off the line, closed in on the battling duo and threatened to turn the race into a brawl.

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Carlos Sainz sends Ferrari’s home crowd into raptures in Monza by pipping Max Verstappen for pole position.

Carlos Sainz put a Ferrari on pole position at the Italian Grand Prix after edging out Max Verstappen for the top spot in a thrilling qualifying hour in Monza.

The Scuderia looked down for the count in the earlier qualifying segments, when revised rules mandated drivers use the hard and medium tires on the way to Q3, but the margins closed to practically nothing once the softs broke cover, and the tight picture was resumed.

Ferrari gave the packed grandstands hope after the first runs, with Sainz leading Charles Leclerc for a provisional front-row lockout with Verstappen in third, but the trio was split by just 0.099s — and Verstappen had had his best lap compromised by running marginally wide and onto the gravel exiting the Roggia chicane.

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Carlos Sainz pipped Max Verstappen to top spot of final practice at the Italian Grand Prix to set up an intriguing qualifying session in Monza.

The third practice hour was mostly sedate, with teams preserving what ties they have left under Pirelli’s reduced allocation rules, but the session came alive in the final quarter with a flurry of qualifying simulation laps.

Verstappen rocketed to top spot first, but Sainz usurped him atop the order shortly afterwards with a best time of 1m 20.912s, pipping the Dutchman by only 0.086s.

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Someone other than Max Verstappen tops practice, with Carlos Sainz giving the home fans something to cheer about on a good day for the Ferrari.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz edged McLaren’s Lando Norris to top spot of second practice at the Italian Grand Prix after Sergio Perez crashed out of the session with 10 minutes remaining.

Perez was deep into a long run on medium tires when he understeered through Parabolica and dipped his left wheels into the gravel. The stones sucked the car into the run-off area, where the Mexican lost control and was helpless but to brace for contact with the barrier at the far end of the gravel trap, near the exit of the corner.

He made rear-end contact with the barrier, and the speed of his trip through the gravel will likely have caused floor damage too.

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Max Verstappen topped opening practice at the Italian Grand Prix ahead of Carlos Sainz in a closely contested session between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari.

Verstappen undertook three stints on the hard tire on his way to a fastest time of 1m22.657s, pipping Sainz by just 0.045s, the Ferrari driver on a four-stint hard-tire plan.

Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc followed, the pair respectively 0.177s and 0.309s off the pace, with George Russell completing a top five all exclusively on hards.

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Formula 1 sends off the European season at one of world motorsport’s oldest and most famous circuits.

F1® is desperate for an American driver to help boost the sport’s popularity in the States. But should the rules be bent to allow Colton Herta onto the grid without a superlicence? F1 journalist and broadcaster Chris Medland joins hosts Matt Clayton and Michael Lamonato to talk through the background to the Herta story (02:10), what Nyck De Vries’ debut for Williams at Monza tells us about the depth in European talent (10:14), if Jack Doohan is a chance to race for Alpine if Pierre Gasly sticks with AlphaTauri (17:31), and suggests ways to fix the grid confusion caused by mass engine and gearbox penalties (20:36).

Charles Leclerc started on pole at Ferrari’s home race but Max Verstappen sent the Italian fans home disappointed by claiming another easy win. Featuring Lewis Larkam, F1 editor, Crash.net.

If the Italian national anthem is played but no-one can hear it, did the Italian Grand Prix really happen?

Max Verstappen romped to an easy victory at the Italian Grand Prix after Ferrari gambled away Charles Leclerc’s lead on a two-stop strategy.

Leclerc had got away from pole position easily to control the first part of the race while Verstappen worked to recover from seventh on the grid. The Dutchman dispatched the task rapidly, rising to third after two laps and second on lap 5, but he couldn’t close down Leclerc for the lead. Both drivers were on the soft tire, on which their cars were equally suited.

The pit window was expected to open at around lap 18 for an early one-stop strategy, but on lap 12 Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin expired in a puff of smoke, forcing the German to park by the side of the road.

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Charles Leclerc has taken a popular pole position at the head of a jumbled grid at the Italian Grand Prix.

Ferrari had the single-lap pace on both laps, with Carlos Sainz taking provisional top spot ahead of Leclerc at the end of the first runs despite carrying a back-of-grid penalty for the race.

Max Verstappen rebounded in his second run to put himself within striking distance of pole with a fastest middle sector.

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Max Verstappen has the pace in third practice for the Italian Grand Prix, beating Charles Leclerc by 0.347s seconds.

Verstappen’s best time of 1m 21.252s came late on the soft tire, but his previous quickest lap on the medium compound would still have been quick enough for third, just behind teammate Sergio Perez’s best soft-compound lap and ahead of Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc, however, remains favorite for pole position given Verstappen, Perez and Sainz will all serve grid penalties on Sunday – though Verstappen’s drop is worth only five places, keeping him comfortably in victory contention.

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Carlos Sainz topped second practice at the Italian Grand Prix despite incurring an additional grid penalty for Sunday’s race.

The Spaniard went quickest with fresh softs after a brief red-flag suspension at the half-hour mark to collect Mick Schumacher’s stopped Haas, which was parked by the side of the road at the Roggia chicane with an engine problem. The Spaniard’s best time, a 1m21.664s, was 0.143s quicker than Max Verstappen’s fastest effort, the Dutchman’s top time coming shortly before the suspension.

Both drivers will take penalties, with Sainz being sent to the back of the grid thanks to a new control electronics system installed between practice sessions, while Verstappen will lose just five places, as has already been confirmed.

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