Nico Rosberg topped the final practice session on Saturday morning, prior to qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver put in a late lap to go quickest ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa who looks to have come alive in the sixth round of the championship.
Sebastian Vettel also took advantage of the hotter track conditions and grippier circuit later in the session to post the third quickest lap ahead of the second Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.
Lotus’s Romain Grosjean finished just under three tenths slower than Rosberg in fifth ahead of the McLaren duo, Michael Schumacher, Sergio Perez and Mark Webber – who rounded off a competitive top ten, covered by just a second.
The final few minutes were action packed after Force India’s Paul di Resta lost the rear over the tunnel exit bump and swiped his front-wing against the barrier, echoing Sergio Perez’s 2011 qualifying incident – though Di Resta managed to slow the car down without too much damage being done.
Just seconds later Pastor Maldonado managed to drive over the front-wing of Sergio Perez as he went past the slower car before making contact with the barrier at Casino, damaging his front-wing and removing the left-rear wheel and suspension which resulted in the session being red flagged.
2012 Monaco GP FP3 Results:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:15.159 | 25 | |
| 02. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:15.197 | +0.038 | 21 |
| 03. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:15.209 | +0.050 | 20 |
| 04. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:15.210 | +0.051 | 20 |
| 05. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:15.445 | +0.286 | 18 |
| 06. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:15.471 | +0.312 | 19 |
| 07. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:15.734 | +0.575 | 19 |
| 08. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:15.893 | +0.734 | 23 |
| 09. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:16.110 | +0.951 | 14 |
| 10. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:16.219 | +1.060 | 19 |
| 11. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:16.226 | +1.067 | 20 |
| 12. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:16.301 | +1.142 | 21 |
| 13. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:16.311 | +1.152 | 19 |
| 14. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:16.479 | +1.320 | 20 |
| 15. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:17.027 | +1.868 | 20 |
| 16. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:17.055 | +1.896 | 26 |
| 17. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:17.276 | +2.117 | 25 |
| 18. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:17.390 | +2.231 | 19 |
| 19. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:17.404 | +2.245 | 22 |
| 20. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:18.259 | +3.100 | 18 |
| 21. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:18.488 | +3.329 | 22 |
| 22. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:19.099 | +3.940 | 17 |
| 23. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:19.147 | +3.988 | 19 |
| 24. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:19.151 | +3.992 | 19 |
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