Charles Leclerc topped the charts in the final practice session (FP3) for the Monaco Grand Prix, leading Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The session was briefly halted after Valtteri Bottas clipped the wall at the Swimming Pool exit, damaging his front-right suspension and stopping at Rascasse. The Sauber was quickly moved behind the barriers, allowing the session to resume.
As the session restarted, drivers took to the track with high fuel loads, preparing for the upcoming qualifying rounds. Initially, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap, but was soon outpaced by his teammate George Russell and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. Oscar Piastri then took the lead with a time of 1m12.684s before Charles Leclerc edged ahead with a 1m11.977s.
Leclerc continued to improve, eventually posting a 1m11.369s on a fresh set of soft tires, putting him over 0.6 seconds ahead of his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. Sainz had narrowly missed Leclerc’s earlier benchmark by just 0.002 seconds.
Max Verstappen managed to claim second place with 1m11.566s, despite losing time in the middle-sectors after gaining in the first. His final attempt to improve was thwarted when he was blocked by his teammate Sergio Perez at Rascasse.
Lewis Hamilton secured third place, despite a challenging session. He was hindered by Bottas’s earlier incident and later flat-spotted his tires with a heavy lock-up at Sainte Devote. Oscar Piastri finished fourth, while Perez’s last-minute lap placed him fifth, despite expressing frustration over the car’s performance.
George Russell and Carlos Sainz took sixth and seventh places, respectively. Lando Norris, who narrowly avoided a collision with Russell at the tunnel exit, was just 0.009s behind Sainz. Yuki Tsunoda impressed with the ninth fastest time, and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten after spending the first half of the session on medium tires.
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