Kimi Antonelli took the fight to Ferrari in final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix as the championship leader came out on top in the qualifying sims ahead of Saturday’s all-important session.
Antonelli was one of the few frontrunners to get in a clean lap before Oliver Bearman crashed at Massenet and set up a final four-minute shootout for P1. None of his rivals, though, could better Antonelli’s time.
Kimi Antonelli fastest in Monaco Grand Prix final practice
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Final practice got underway under blue skies, with Lewis Hamilton the first driver out on track ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari pairing set the pace on Friday, trading positions in the 1-2 with Hamilton’s 1:13.026 the day’s fastest lap time.
Lando Norris was one of the early runners after McLaren broke curfew to resolve the electrical issue that caused him to stop in FP2. McLaren replaced the wiring harness and changed the ESME pack in his MCL40.
Hamilton got the timesheet rolling with a 1:15.246, which also kicked off the Ferrari battle as Leclerc went a tenth quicker.
Valtteri Bottas reported “burning” in his front right brake, and told Cadillac he would “try not to use the brakes” as he limped back to the pits. A few minutes later, Sergio Perez reported “fire” on his left brake as he too returned to the pits.
Lance Stroll was told to box as he had made contact with the wall. Team principal Adrian Newey, back at the race track, was having a look over the two AMR26s.
Ferrari lost the 1-2 as George Russell hit the front with a 1:13.902, Lando Norris improved to second place, and Max Verstappen P3. But it was short-lived as Leclerc regained the top spot 20 minutes into the hour-long session.
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After Friday’s dominance, Ferrari was under pressure from its rivals in FP3 as Kimi Antonelli headed a Mercedes 1-2. Leclerc and Antonelli went back and forth for P1. The championship leader was ahead at the halfway point, two-tenths up on Leclerc.
Franco Colapinto lost the rear end of his Alpine into the hairpin, spinning rearwards into the barrier. It wasn’t a hard hit, and he was able to return to the pits with a damaged rear wing. Russell had a close encounter with the barrier out of Rascasse as he got caught up by Carlos Sainz ahead of him.
The drivers swapped onto fresh soft Pirelli tyres for the final 20 minutes for the traditional qualifying simulation ahead of this afternoon’s all-important quali. Antonelli went purple, purple, and yellow for a 1:12.760. His teammate Russell backed off on his lap, while Leclerc went deep into the Nouvelle chicane before hitting the brakes behind a Sainz and Gabriel Bortoleto.
Red flag!
Oliver Bearman has lost it into the outside barrier at Massenet, spinning as he went around Russell, who was off to the side of the track on a slow track. Bearman, though, went too wide and lost grip on the dusty outside of the circuit. “Sorry guys,” said Bearman, blaming the “f***ing bottoming”.
The session resumed with four minutes on the clock, enough time for one flying laps. The Cadillacs were the first drivers out as the team lines up at the very end of the pit lane. Leclerc reported his brakes were “horrendous”.
No one could challenge Antonelli’s time, the Mercedes driver finishing P1 with a 1:12.720. That was 0.3s faster than Leclerc’s best with Hamilton third.
F1 Results: Free Practice 3, Monaco Grand Prix
1 Antonelli 1:12.720
2 Leclerc 1:13.047
3 Hamilton 1:13.051
4 Russell 1:13.483
5 Verstappen 1:13.662
6 Piastri 1:13.698
7 Bortoleto 1:13.820
8 Hadjar 1:13.877
9 Norris 1:14.006
10 Hulkenberg 1:14.050
Check out the full results from Free Practice 3.
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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