Antonelli tops Monaco FP3 from Leclerc, Bearman brings out late red flag

Credit: Formula One

After a busy Friday to kick off the Monaco weekend, the grid took to the Monte Carlo streets for the final hour of practice ahead of the critical qualifying session.

Friday heavily suggested that Ferrari are the team to beat this round, with Charles Leclerc topping FP1 and Lewis Hamilton taking that spot in FP2. Mercedes brought back the heat in today as Kimi Antonelli topped the third practice from both Ferraris, Leclerc struggling with his brakes in the latter part of the session.

The lone red flag of the session was courtesy of Oliver Bearman after slamming his Haas into the barriers at Massenet. Here’s how the final hour of practice went down.

As it Happened

The Ferraris quickly took their spots at the top of the time sheets right out of the box, Leclerc setting the early benchmark with a 1:15.184 on the soft tyres.

Elsewhere, Cadillac were struggling with the same issue from yesterday’s session, both drivers reporting smoke and fire catching on their brakes. Valtteri Bottas and Segio Pérez were able to peel back into the pits, remitting the need for a VSC (Virtual Safety Car).

At 15 minutes into the session, Lance Stroll was ordered to return to the pits to check for potential damage from contact against the walls.

Meanwhile, the track had begun to evolve, with Lando Norris then George Russell heading to the top ahead of the Ferraris. The Scuderia inevitably reclaimed their top spot soon enough, Leclerc bringing the benchmark down to 1:13.748. 

Soon, the Mercedes pair took the top two spots from Ferrari, Antonelli maintaining the edge over Russell. While Ferrari were front and centre with their promising performance and the increasing chances of a second home win for Leclerc or Hamilton’s maiden win in red, Mercedes remained the underlying threats for the victory.

Down at the hairpin, Franco Colapinto had a dicey moment that nearly ended his session as he brought out a momentary yellow flag after sliding into the barriers. Liam Lawson also had a close moment through the Swimming Pool chicane, hitting a bump at the exit and losing the rears, but managing to hang on and avoid the barriers.

With under 30 minutes to go, Antonelli occupied the top spot with a 1:13.137, Leclerc adrift by two tenths. The Italian teenager’s next run to improve his lap time had to be abandoned though, as he returned to the pits after complaining of traffic on the narrow track.

Soon the cars all went back to the pits for a new set, when Alex Albon became the latest driver to find the run-off road at Sainte Devote. The session quickly became busier with everyone hoping to maximise the final 15 minutes of practice, when Oliver Bearman took a heavy hit at Massenet, spraying debris across the track and immediately halting the session after losing control of the rears. 

The session resumed with four minutes remaining, a long queue understandably forming at the end of the pitlane for a quick shootout.

Meanwhile, Leclerc came over the radio to complain about “horrendous” brakes, aligning with the evidence of Antonelli having the edge over Leclerc in the braking zones. As the session ended and drivers completed their final runs, Antonelli remained at the top, followed by Leclerc and Hamilton.

Russell, Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris and Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the top 10.

Looking Ahead

While it was the Ferrari show on Friday, as has been the pattern, Mercedes have turned up the wick come Saturday. While Russell was seven tenths off the pace, Antonelli managed to keep his momentum going after lowering the benchmark to a 1:12.720.

Ferrari are not yet out of the fight, however, and all signs point to another tantalisingly close qualifying session around the streets of Monaco.