Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led a closely-contested final practice session for Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel crashed.
Leclerc clocked a time of 1:11.265 to edge Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by just 0.053s, while Lewis Hamilton was only 0.213s of the local racer’s overall benchmark.
Max Verstappen underlined Red Bull’s pace by finishing fourth, 0.274s behind his former karting rival, while Pierre Gasly was two-tenths further back in the sister RB15.
The biggest drama befell Vettel as he crashed at Sainte Devote during the early stages of the session.
Vettel locked up and caused damage to the front-left of his Ferrari SF90, while the resultant Virtual Safety Car period may have also spelt bad news for Leclerc.
Leclerc is under investigation for allegedly failing to stay above the minimum time as mandated under the VSC, and must see the stewards.
Antonio Giovinazzi led the midfield group in sixth position, nine-tenths behind Leclerc, while Daniil Kvyat was seventh and Kevin Magnussen eighth.
Kimi Raikkonen and Alexander Albon rounded out the top 10, marginally ahead of Renault duo Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, with Romain Grosjean 13th.
Just four-tenths of a second separated Giovinazzi from Grosjean in a close-run affair in the midfield.
Vettel’s early time left him 14th, while McLaren was a few tenths off the midfield, with Carlos Sainz Jr. in front of Lando Norris.
Racing Point continued to struggle for pace as Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll were only 17th and 18th respectively, while Williams remained at the back, albeit this time with Robert Kubica in front of George Russell.
Saturday’s qualifying session will begin at 15:00 local time
Discussion about this post