he final hour of practice in Monaco has wrapped up. Let’s go through what happened in our FP3 summary and standings.
After a stellar Friday for Ferrari, Saturday’s qualifying session is a major test for the Maranello car. Until last year, qualifying largely decided the Monaco GP, but this year several variables will be in play, including a mandatory two-stop strategy. Here’s what unfolded during FP3.
Action on track began immediately after the green light at 12:30, although most drivers stayed in the garage initially, with only Colapinto and Lawson setting early lap times within the first five minutes.
A few minutes later, more cars joined the track. Hulkenberg posted the first competitive time with a 1:13.916. High times were expected, given the track was “green” after rain washed away the rubber. Hamilton emerged ten minutes into the session and set the second-fastest time.
Lap times began to drop rapidly, with Norris and Hamilton setting the early pace. Charles Leclerc, on soft tires, quickly reasserted himself by clocking a 1:12.712. Norris responded shortly after, going quickest in sectors two and three and taking the lead 20 minutes into the session. A tight duel between Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris unfolded, with both trading fastest laps.
With just over 30 minutes to go, Verstappen joined the fray on medium tires, setting a 1:11.961 — matching Charles Leclerc’s FP1 time on the C6 compound. Yuki Tsunoda also impressed, jumping to P2 on mediums.
New fast laps from Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc reshuffled the order, with the Monegasque taking the top spot in 1:11.532. Max Verstappen then improved by two tenths, still on medium tires. The C5 soft compound proved most effective on the under-rubbered track.
Williams continued to show promise, with Alex Albon climbing to fifth, despite an unsuccessful experiment in FP2.
With 20 minutes left, drivers switched to fresh C6s, but struggled to find performance on the first push. Only on the third attempt did Leclerc and Hamilton improve, followed closely by the McLarens. Oscar Piastri moved to within 0.170s of Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc, however, outpaced them all, edging close to the 1:10 barrier and going fastest ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris — the top three separated by just 68 thousandths. Hamilton could have joined the fight, but was impeded by traffic at the upper Mirabeau.
In the final minutes, Charles Leclerc pushed further and broke into the 1:10s with a 1:10.963. But the session ended on a sour note for Ferrari, as Hamilton crashed at the Casino corner. The team now faces a race against time to repair the rear of the car ahead of qualifying.
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