Leclerc clean sweeps Monaco GP practice as Hamilton crashes
24th May 2025Ferrari’s home hero Charles Leclerc has completed Monaco’s practice sessions as the fastest driver, as his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, crashed.
Feature image credit: Scuderia Ferrari
Leclerc completed Friday as the fastest man out on track, and he has started Saturday on the same footing as the Monegasque finished Free Practice 3 as the fastest driver.
This means, in his home race weekend, he has completed a clean sweep of practice sessions by taking the fastest lap in each hour. However, it wasn’t a clean final hour on the other side of the garage as Hamilton crashed out of the session in the dying minutes.
With 90 seconds left on the clock, Hamilton raced to the top of Massenet, but his car stepped out as he reached the top of the hill, just as he encountered Esteban Ocon (Haas) and Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes).
Hamilton tried to correct, but this sent him into the adjacent barrier, which ripped his front-right tyre from its rim and damaged the suspension. Ocon and Antonelli were noted for the incident with Hamilton but Race Control confirmed no further action
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was noted for a red flag infringement and is set to be investigated between practice and qualifying.
How did the final hour finish?
Leclerc topped the final hour of practice for the third consecutive session as the Monegasque completed FP3 with a lap time of 1m 10.953s, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris, in second and third, respectively.
McLaren’s championship leader, Oscar Piastri, finished fourth ahead of Hamilton, who kept his fifth-fastest lap despite crashing.
Williams found themselves inside the top 10 with Alexander Albon sixth ahead of Carlos Sainz in eighth. Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson filled in the gap, in seventh.
Red Bulls Yuki Tsunoda and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli completed the top 10, in ninth and 10th, with George Russell finishing just behind his Mercedes teammate in 11th.
Despite a lap time not worthy of being inside the top 10, Aston Martin remained within the top 15 as Fernando Alonso finished 12th ahead of Lance Stroll in 15th. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top 15 in 13th and 14th.
Haas’ Oliver Bearman, who is faced with a 10-place grid penalty, could only best 16th fastest ahead of Ocon in 18th. Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar filled the void in 18th. This left Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Colapinto to round out the 20-car field in 19th and 20th, respectively.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- 2 Grid penalties confirmed so far ahead of Monaco GP
- Leclerc completes clean sweep in disrupted Monaco GP FP2
- Leclerc fastest in Monaco GP FP1 after collision with Stroll
- Weather Report: The latest ahead of F1 Monaco GP
- Who finished Where: Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
- Max Verstappen commands Emilia-Romagna GP F1 victory
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
