Practice report
Formula 1 Monaco GP
Monaco GP: Leclerc tops FP3 as Vettel crashes
Charles Leclerc edged out the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in third practice for the 2019 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix after Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel crashed out early on.
Stuart Codling
Edited: May 25, 2019, 11:19 AM
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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 View full results
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