MONACO GP – Charles Leclerc fastest by two tenths in third practice ahead of Max Verstappen
Charles Leclerc was fastest by almost two-tenths in third practice for the Monaco Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver was again ahead of Max Verstappen like he had been in FP2 yesterday afternoon as he seeks his second pole and maiden win at his home race.
The Monacan set his fastest times towards the latter part of the session improving by six tenths from his first attempt as he looked comfortable on track and his teammate Carlos Sainz also found improvements, but the tight times saw him finish only seventh.
Once again no one else was able to match his pace and he was eventually able to better that time in what proved a frantic end to the session as nearly all of the drivers returned to the track in an effort to put in the best laps before Qualifying later in the afternoon.
Leclerc’s incoming teammate Lewis Hamilton was third a tenth and a half behind Verstappen. The Dutchman failing to improve at the end of the session after being blocked by Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez who went too hot into Rascasse as he looked to be on his best lap and that left him second.
However, Verstappen once more struggled to match the pace of Leclerc repeatedly losing time in the second and third sectors of the lap. On Friday, he had down played Red Bull’s hopes of catching Ferrari after a difficult Friday for the team, believing the vibration problems the RB20 had suffered around Monaco in the opening two sessions could not be solved by set-up changes alone.
Hamilton was also blocked by his former teammate Valtteri Bottas when the Finn went off before on his first attempt locking up trying to avoid the Sabuer after he also went off at Rascasse. But the Mercedes driver was nearly two-tenths faster than Oscar Piastri as Perez complained his Red Bull was “nowhere.”
Bottas failed to set a lap time after clipping the wall early on. He caused the only red flag stoppage of the session as he came to a halt at the penultimate corner after sustaining front-right suspension damage.
George Russell was sixth the second Mercedes a hundredth faster than Sainz, but Lando Norris wasn’t far off a hundredth behind. Russell and Norris both survived contact with each other on the exit of the Tunnel running to the Nouvelle Chicane. Norris eventually finishing eighth fastest just under a hundredth off.
Yuki Tsunoda was ninth as the RB driver went nearly a tenth faster than Fernando Alonso to complete the top ten. Pierre Gasly was eleventh ahead of Alex Albon and the two Haas’s with Nico Hulkenberg a quarter of a tenth faster than teammate Kevin Magnussen.
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