Mitch Evans led the pack around the circuit in FP3 for the Monaco E-Prix with a 1:26.614. He was followed by Dennis and De Vries.
Oliver Rowland took the chequered flag around the principality on Saturday to take his third win in Season 11. But all is to play for again coming into the second round of the double-header.
The final practice session offers drivers their last opportunity to get a sense of the conditions as clouds loomed over the hills of Monte Carlo.
Just ahead of the start of the session there were reports of light rain around the circuit which could affect the running throughout the day.
Wehrlein on track
Pascal Wehrlein was the first driver to make his way onto track. Wehrlein was having a decent race on Saturday until he made contact with Taylor Barnard in the final stages. It damaged both drivers prospects, but it was deemed a racing incident.
He was followed out of the pits by the rest of the grid, with just David Beckmann remaining in the pit lane. Just a few minutes into the session, there were continued reports of light rain in the pits. However, it wasn’t affecting the running at that point.
Rowland, who sat at the top of the times with a 1:31.056 went off into the run-off area as he avoided a collision with the wall. The winner from Saturday was still complaining about a noise coming from his car. The same noise he had noticed after his crash in qualifying.
The Brit still managed to win the race without issue so, although present, the issue hadn’t seemed to be a detriment.
Nyck De Vries took the top spot in the first push laps, with a 1:29.362. He followed closely by Frijns and Ticktum. De Vries managed to get his first podium since London in 2022 on Saturday, and no doubt will be hoping to have a repeat performance.
Jake Dennis took the top spot from De Vries just before a full course yellow was called. Dennis’ time was a 1:29.244. The full course yellow was due to Maloney clipping the back of Frijns’ Envision, which was put under investigation.
Return to racing
As the green flag was waved, the times rapidly began dropping up and down the grid. Nick Cassidy went into first with a 1:26.920, not far from the weekend’s fastest time. Behind him was Günther and Nato. Rowland slotted in behind his teammate just 0.046 away.
Sam Bird slotted into fifth with a 1:27.130 as many drivers up and down the grid dove into the pits. Dan Ticktum led both practice sessions on Saturday and lined up third. But he found himself down in 12th for the first half of practice.
Pascal Wehrlein who was having a slow morning took to the track to do a push lap which moved him up into third with a 1:27.044.
Meanwhile, further down the grid, Dan Ticktum cut the chicane and was moving slowly across the track at first as he seemingly fixed the issue on his Cupra Kiro.
Nyck De Vries moved back into the top three, with a 1:26.943 putting his Mahindra into second place.
The red flag was waved as Ticktum was unable to get going by Rascasse. The red flag left just eight minutes left in the practice session.
Final runs
In the pits, the grid lined up ready to make the most of the final minutes. Then, Ticktum spoke pessimistically about the issue with his car, citing that he wasn’t sure if he would be racing in qualifying.
Mitch Evans was the first driver to do his final run of push laps, crossing the line to go fastest with a 1:26.614. Evans was three tenths clear of his teammate, but there was still a slew of laps to go.
Nyck De Vries managed a purple sector 2 but only crossed the line second, which bumped to third as Jake Dennis took second with a 1:26.650. De Vries was behind by just 0.010.
Jaguar spent Saturday struggling through the race, unable to get through the pack. However, in the final stages of practice, the duo were first and fourth. A huge step-up for the team.
The chequered flag was waved as Pascal Wehrlein came across the line, moving up into fourth.
The Full Results
- M. Evans – 1:26.614
- J. Dennis – 1:26.650
- N. De Vries – 1:26.660
- P. Wehrlein – 1:26.760
- E. Mortara – 1:26.762
- N. Cassidy – 1:26.920
- M. Günther – 1:27.038
- S. Vandoorne – 1:27.071
- N. Nato – 1:27.126
- S. Bird – 1:27.130
- O. Rowland – 1:27.172
- J. Hughes -1:27.353
- D. Beckmann – 1:27.382
- S. Buemi – 1:27.397
- J. Vergne – 1:27.542
- A. Da Costa – 1:27.614
- N. Müller – 1:27. 663
- L. Di Grassi – 1:28.184
- T. Barnard – 1:28.364
- D. Ticktum – 1:28.854
- R. Frijns – 1:28.966
- Z. Maloney – 1:30.014
