Sainz took over the lead from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who had been fastest in the morning session, with some 90 minutes to go in the session. The Spaniard first set a 1m33.943s on yellow-marked medium tyres, before lowering his benchmark to a 1m33.532 on softer C4 tyres from Pirelli.
Soon after, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll followed Sainz through to P2 with a 1m34.064s on the same soft compound.
In the final hour of the four-hour afternoon stint, 2021 title protagonists Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen also vaulted up the timesheets.
On the soft C4 tyres world champion Verstappen briefly took third for Red Bull with a 1m34.232s, only for Hamilton to dip a tenth below the Dutchman’s time and take over third with a 1m34.141s on the C5s, Pirelli’s softest available compound.
In the final 10 minutes, Verstappen ultimately jumped to second in between Sainz and Stroll with a 1m34.011s effort on C4 rubber.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Ocon’s morning…
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