Leclerc fastest in F1 Monaco GP FP3 ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton
25th May 2024Feature image credit: Scuderia Ferrari
Ferrari home hero, Charles Leclerc has completed the final practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix as the fastest driver ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Free Practice three stood as the final opportunity for the drivers to dial-in their cars ahead of the most important qualifying session of the year.
However, the session wasn’t without interruption as Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas brought out the red flag early on with a crash on the exit of the second Swimming Pool chicane – heading into Rascasse.
The Finn was unhurt but the right-front suspension of his car was retired out on circuit.
How did FP3 end?
Leclerc stood as the fastest driver with a lap time that even Red Bull’s Verstappen couldn’t beat, a 1:11.369. Despite this, Verstappen was still under two-tenths behind whereas Mercedes’ Hamilton finished third, three-and-a-half-tenths behind.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completed the top five, in fourth and fifth respectively.
Mercedes’ George Russell led the bottom five inside the top 10, in sixth, with just under six-tenths off the pace of Leclerc.
The trailing Mercedes driver was left with Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Lando Norris (McLaren), Yuki Tsunoda (RB) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) for company, in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th respectively.
Both Russell and Norris will be investigated, prior to qualifying later on today, for impeding on the exit of the tunnel.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was the top driver, in the bottom 10, down in 11th. This was a better start to the day compared to yesterday where the Frenchman suffered power unit issues.
Williams’ Alexander Albon finished P12, accompanied by the Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen in 13th and 14th. The two drivers were sandwiched in between Albon and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (15th).
Esteban Ocon was the trailing Alpine driver down in 16th ahead of Logan Sargeant (Williams), Daniel Ricciardo (RB) and Guanyu Zhou (Kick Sauber) in 17th, 18th and 19th respectively.
Bottas, despite his session-ending crash, completed the order down in 20th without a representative lap time on the board.
Qualifying is next and is set to start at 3pm BST (4pm local).
Read more Formula 1 here:
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- Verstappen secures F1 Emilia-Romagna GP win despite Norris pressure
- Piastri slapped with three-place grid drop for F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
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