Monaco Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Charles Leclerc impresses ahead of Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren
In this crucial pre-qualifying session, Charles Leclerc pushed all his rivals back by several tenths. Max Verstappen closed the gap, but the Dutchman still had to contend with an uncertain car.
The start of the session is marked by a lack of activity on the track, a phenomenon accentuated by a red flag caused by Valtteri Bottas at Rascasse after hitting the guardrail at the Swimming Pool chicane. When the session resumes, everyone goes out on red tires, the softest compound, with qualifying in mind.
At mid-session, the drivers push their limits and the timesheet begins to fall, with Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri the fastest behind the wheel of their car. The key to this session: gaining enough confidence for qualifying, and above all, not sending the car into the barrier. Max Verstappen is closing in on the leaders but the behavior of his car remains uncertain and disruptive.
Other drivers are showing up during this testing session, with Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon rubbing shoulders with the top positions. As for the top teams, Ferrari continues to put in fast laps, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the first two positions. The Maranello team is doing a great job. Red Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes are falling behind against a dominant Charles Leclerc who seems to be in top form.
Twenty minutes before the end of the session, the majority of drivers return to the pits and then go out again for quick laps on red tires. Charles Leclerc pushes the second in the session, Carlos Sainz, to six tenths! The Monegasque seems to be on top, and by far.
With three minutes left in the session, Max Verstappen finds the resources and manages to get closer to Charles Leclerc by just under two tenths. There’s improvement, but the Red Bull doesn’t seem optimal. Despite the significant gap with Leclerc, Mercedes and McLaren seem to be in the mix for qualifying. All have pushed their limits.
Meet at 3:40 PM on Canal+ Sport for the qualifying session of the Monaco Grand Prix, which promises to be a great show.
The ranking of the third free practice session:
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:11.369 | 26 | |
| 2 | Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:11.566 | +0.197 | 27 |
| 3 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:11.710 | +0.341 | 25 |
| 4 | Piastri | McLaren F1 Team | 1:11.910 | +0.541 | 25 |
| 5 | Perez | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:11.923 | +0.554 | 24 |
| 6 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:11.968 | +0.599 | 33 |
| 7 | Sainz | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:11.979 | +0.610 | 26 |
| 8 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:11.988 | +0.619 | 24 |
| 9 | Tsunoda | Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team | 1:11.991 | +0.622 | 27 |
| 10 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:12.087 | +0.718 | 25 |
| 11 | Gasly | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:12.144 | +0.775 | 26 |
| 12 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1:12.180 | +0.811 | 24 |
| 13 | Hülkenberg | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1:12.192 | +0.823 | 24 |
| 14 | Magnussen | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1:12.216 | +0.847 | 31 |
| 15 | Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:12.331 | +0.962 | 25 |
| 16 | Ocon | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:12.472 | +1.103 | 25 |
| 17 | Sargeant | Williams Racing | 1:12.703 | +1.334 | 21 |
| 18 | Ricciardo | Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team | 1:12.829 | +1.460 | 28 |
| 19 | Guanyu | Stake F1 Team | 1:13.830 | +2.461 | 28 |
| 20 | Bottas | Stake F1 Team | 2 |
