Charles Leclerc saw off a threat from Max Verstappen to end Monaco GP practice as the driver to beat in Monte Carlo, as Lewis Hamilton dramatically crashed.
With just one hour of practice left before the most important qualifying session of the year, the grid took a relaxed approach to final practice.
The 20-car-long queue seen yesterday was gone. Instead, a small trickle of cars made their way onto the famous streets at the green light.
Lewis Hamilton was the only of the top runners to take to the track early. Exiting his garage, he was sandwiched between the two Racing Bulls. He returned to the pits after just one lap, scrubbing a set of hard tyres. This left just Franco Colapinto and Liam Lawson on track.
Exchanging fastest lap times, Lawson had the advantage, with a lap time six seconds clear of Colapinto. Lawson complained of low grip on the circuit, explaining why the vast majority of the field opted to stay in the pits.
The two Aston Martins took advantage of the quiet track to perform installation laps. The Saubers joined them, with Hulkenberg setting the fastest time. Ocon increased the car count from six to seven, but he remained rooted at the bottom of the times.
Track gets busy
The two Ferrari’s ventured out after 15 minutes, both on soft tyres. Hamilton could not top Hulkenberg’s time on mediums. Team-mate Charles Leclerc lapped four tenths slower after his first effort. Hulkenberg briefly caused a yellow flag by running wide at the final corner but was able to continue.
Lando Norris became the next big name to set a lap time, his first effort good enough to jump Hulkenberg by 0.445s. Max Verstappen and Leclerc demonstrated the scale of the track pace ramping up, as Leclerc went fastest by 0.258s on softs, with Verstappen 0.358s behind on mediums.
All 20 cars were now on track, with a variety of different tyres being used. Lance Stroll and Aston Martin threw a spanner in the works by setting the second fastest time on mediums. Norris then found 0.365s to take the top spot once again. Team-mate Oscar Oscar Piastri slotted into third.
Lap times changed every few seconds, but it was becoming clear that McLaren and Ferrari were the teams to beat in Monaco.
Traffic is an occupational hazard in Monaco. Isack Hadjar’s weekend of drama continued, coming across a slow-moving Yuki Tsunoda in the tunnel. Tsuonda raised eyebrows by jumping to second in the times on his next run.
Max Verstappen’s car once again looked transformed compared to Friday. His medium tyres gave the reigning world champion endless confidence as he found 0.299s to jump to the top of the times once again.
Further down the order, Franco Colapinto once again remained rooted to the bottom of the times. However, the gap to next placed Oliver Bearman was just under a tenth of a second.
Final laps of Monaco GP practice
With 25 minutes on the clock, the cars returned to the pits ahead of the final runs. After a short lull, the field frantically took to the track for the remainder of the session.
Verstappen, now on softs, unleashed Red Bull’s true pace. Nailing the first sector, his lap unravelled, struggling to get heat into his tyres.
Williams once again had pace on the streets of Monaco, with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz running comfortably inside the top six.
McLaren had not featured in the top half of the leaderboard in the middle part of practice. Norris’ first effort in a new set of soft tyres could only manage third, 0.246s behind Verstappen.
Drivers struggle to find time before times tumble as Monaco practice ends
Drivers began to struggle as the track and air temperatures rose. Improvements could be found in the first and second sectors, only to rapidly drop off in the final sector.
This led to the curious situation of no improvements in lap times. Piastri ducked the trend by moving to within two-tenths of Verstappen. What was becoming clear was tyre management would be key for qualifying.
Double cool-down laps led to improvements, with Leclerc resuming his place at the top of the times. Norris also found improvement, but took too much curb. His lap was good enough for third, less than a tenth behind Leclerc.
However, Leclerc was not finished with his run, and found almost three tenths of a second to pull clear of Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton caused the Monaco GP practice to end early as he hit the wall at Casino square, damaging his front and rear right tyres.
Session Classification
- Charles Leclerc
- Max Verstappen
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Lewis Hamilton
- Alex Albon
- Liam Lawson
- Carlos Sainz
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Kimi Antonelli
- George Russell
- Fernando Alonso
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Pierre Gasly
- Lance Stroll
- Oliver Bearman
- Isack Hadjar
- Esteban Ocon
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Franco Colapinto
