Monaco GP: Leclerc tops FP3 as Vettel crashes

Leclerc ended the session 0.053s faster than Bottas, with Lewis Hamilton a fraction behind, as circumstances conspired to prevent the rapid Red Bull of Max Verstappen from setting a more representative time. Verstappen ended the session fourth ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly.

Bottas set the pace in the early running with a 1m12.238s, just a few tenths up on Vettel and Leclerc, but since Wednesday's practice yielded times in the 1m11s bracket there remained plenty of room for improvement as the track evolved.

Hamilton's arrival on track was marginally delayed by last-minute adjustments to his W10 and when he did get going, just 10 minutes into the session, he complained of vibrations from the front axle. Nevertheless he soon got up to speed and had just demoted Vettel when the Ferrari departed the scene.

Vettel locked his front-right wheel and went off into the outside barrier at Ste Devote after completing just seven timed laps. As his car was craned off the track and the laptimes began to tumble, Verstappen rose to become the principal challenger to the two Mercedes.

By the end of the first runs, Bottas was fastest of all with a 1m11.835s he clocked up towards the close of a 13-lap stint, while Hamilton was just 0.199s in arrears.

Verstappen was a further tenth off but running a shorter 10-lap stint, and seemingly unable to keep the tyres alive over a single lap - either being slow in the first sector but in the Mercedes ballpark in the final third, or vice versa.

Having failed to string together a properly quick lap in his opening run, Leclerc responded with a sizzling 1m11.265s lap at the beginning of his next stint, topping the timesheet by 0.053s as Bottas improved to 1m11.318s and Hamilton to 1m478s.

Verstappen's push laps during his second stint were frustrated by traffic and a brush with the barrier at Rascasse; had he been able to connect all the dots, his theoretical best at this point was 1m11.270s rather than the 1m11.539s he registered when crossing the line.

Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to leave the pits for a qualifying simulation with three minutes of the session to run, followed in short order by Leclerc and Bottas, but traffic militated against any of them improving their times.

Antonio Giovinazzi was 'best of the rest' in sixth behind Gasly, albeit half a second off the Red Bull's pace, with a 1m12.170s set late in the session.

The midfield margins were wafer thin: four tenths separated Giovinazzi from Daniil Kvyat, Kevin Magnussen, Kimi Raikkonen, Alexander Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo and Romain Grosjean.

Vettel was classified 14th as neither the McLarens, the Racing Points nor the Williams were able to surpass his early time.

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	26	1'11.265
2	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	27	1'11.318	0.053
3	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	27	1'11.478	0.213
4	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	24	1'11.539	0.274
5	Pierre Gasly		Red Bull	27	1'11.738	0.473
6	Antonio Giovinazzi		Alfa Romeo	23	1'12.170	0.905
7	Daniil Kvyat		Toro Rosso	27	1'12.194	0.929
8	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	25	1'12.270	1.005
9	Kimi Raikkonen		Alfa Romeo	27	1'12.308	1.043
10	Alex Albon		Toro Rosso	32	1'12.338	1.073
11	Nico Hulkenberg		Renault	26	1'12.489	1.224
12	Daniel Ricciardo		Renault	26	1'12.519	1.254
13	Romain Grosjean		Haas	27	1'12.566	1.301
14	Sebastian Vettel		Ferrari	7	1'12.583	1.318
15	Carlos Sainz Jr.		McLaren	29	1'12.862	1.597
16	Lando Norris		McLaren	26	1'12.914	1.649
17	Sergio Perez		Racing Point	23	1'13.232	1.967
18	Lance Stroll		Racing Point	21	1'13.622	2.357
19	Robert Kubica		Williams	27	1'14.086	2.821
20	George Russell		Williams	27	1'14.305	3.040
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