Charles Leclerc and the Monaco barriers
Charles Leclerc topped Saturday’s final practice in Monaco, but there were clear indications Ferrari shouldn’t rule Max Verstappen out of the fight
The Ferrari driver continued his impressive performance by setting a lap time of 1:11.369, securing another fastest lap after his successful Friday P1. Verstappen trailed behind in second place, two-tenths slower, while Lewis Hamilton claimed the third position.
Charles Leclerc shines on the street of Monaco
At the beginning of Saturday’s final practice, the main focus was on set-up changes. Red Bull reportedly made significant modifications overnight, Carlos Sainz also adjusted his setup, and George Russell was the first driver to hit the track. Russell commented that his steering felt noticeably different compared to the previous day and he observed the absence of any vibrations.
Kevin Magnussen laid down the opening salvo, a 1:14, but that was three seconds down on Friday’s P1 time set by Charles Leclerc. He was the only driver to clock a lap time in the first 10 minutes of FP3.
Lewis Hamilton took over the lead on the timesheet, but his former teammate Valtteri Bottas abruptly ended his run by crashing his Stake. Bottas collided with the Turn 16 barrier, causing damage to his suspension and forcing him to halt on the track. Unfortunately, Hamilton misjudged his trajectory and found himself unable to pass Bottas, who was blocking his path.
With 44 minutes remaining on the clock, Bottas’ car was swiftly taken off the track, and the session resumed without delay.
Kevin Magnussen ended up on an escape road in an upside-down position, Carlos Sainz took a shortcut through the chicane to avoid an RB, Hamilton had a detour to the Ste Devote run-off, and Oscar Piastri set the fastest time of 1:12.8, securing P1 ahead of the Ferrari teammates.
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As predicted, the traffic in Monaco proved to be a major annoyance for many drivers. Max Verstappen expressed his frustration as he found himself stuck in a queue, while Kevin Magnussen deemed Yuki Tsunoda’s obstruction in the tunnel as extremely hazardous. Sergio Perez, on the other hand, labeled Zhou Guanyu as foolish or thoughtless by calling him an “idiot”.
In the middle of the session, Charles Leclerc took the lead with a time of 1:12.2, putting him ahead of Carlos Sainz by 0.2 seconds. Verstappen was just a tenth slower than Leclerc after completing a flawless lap. The Red Bull pit wall praised Verstappen’s performance, calling it a “solid lap,” to which Verstappen responded confidently that he is aware of the areas where he can improve and gain more time.
In the meantime, Hamilton received information about the areas where he was lagging behind Leclerc, specifically in Turns 15/16. Mercedes informed him that he had been on par with the Ferrari driver up until that point.
After fitting a new set of soft tyres, Leclerc increased his speed and recorded an impressive time of 1:11.3, surpassing Sainz by six-tenths of a second, while Lewis Hamilton trailed behind by an additional 0.04s.
Even though Leclerc had a lead over the other racers, he returned to the track in the last 10 minutes after Ferrari adjusted the angle of his front wing.
Verstappen increased his speed to secure the second position, but was still trailing the Ferrari driver by six-tenths of a second. However, he managed to significantly reduce the gap to 0.197s by setting a new record in the first sector. Despite this improvement, he expressed dissatisfaction to the Red Bull team, cautioning them that if he continued to push at such intensity, he would likely crash. Unfortunately, his last attempt to set a new fastest lap was hindered by traffic, ultimately spoiling his chances.
Leclerc finished the session in first place, followed by Verstappen and Hamilton.
Times
1 Charles LECLERC 1:11.369
2 Max VERSTAPPEN +0.197
3 Lewis HAMILTON +0.341
4 Oscar PIASTRI +0.532
5 Sergio PEREZ+0.554
6 George RUSSELL+0.599
7 Carlos SAINZ +0.610
8 Lando NORRIS +0.619
9 Yuki TSUNODA +0.622
10 Fernando ALONSO +0.718
11 Pierre GASLY +0.775
12 Alexander ALBON +0.811
13 Nico HULKENBERG +0.823
14 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +0.847
15 Lance STROLL +0.962
16 Esteban OCON +1.103
17 Logan SARGEANT +1.334
18 Daniel RICCIARDO +1.460
19 Guanyu ZHOU +2.461
20 Valtteri BOTTAS no time
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