FP3 was officially underway, but unlike the sessions yesterday, there wasn’t any immediate action in the pit lane.
George Russell was the first to come out on some fresh soft tires.
McLaren seemed to be taking a page out of Aston Martin’s play book by scrubbing their tires. This meant they’d run just one easy lap on a fresh set before stashing them away for the race. The idea was to take off some of the tire’s shine, which helped some teams warm them up better during the race.
Aston Martin Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll out on the mediums to scrub a set before switching to the hards to do the same thing.
Tyre degradation proved a bit tricky during yesterday’s sessions, with some front graining observed. Tomorrow is expected to be warmer too, which will likely play a role.
The weather?
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 25, 2024
Glorious 🌞🌞🌞#F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/uNhPl7qkPL
After Russell struggled with vibrations in his steering wheel, Mercedes have seemed to resolve the issue.
Red flag at the Swimming Pool
The red flags were out!
Bottas has hit the wall at Piscine, damaging his front suspension. He coasts to a stop and doesn’t seem likely to make it back to the pits.
🔴 RED FLAG 🔴
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 25, 2024
Bottas has hit the barriers breaking his front right suspension#F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/Pc00WMsdJJ
Although it was not the biggest hit, there were big consequences. The Finn’s car was only recovered at the back of Rascasse. Sauber won’t be able to work on it until after FP3.
The red flag did not last too long, and soon everyone queued up to get back out onto the track. However, Hamilton remained in the garage as Mercedes checked over his car. Stopping at the Bottas crash scene had caused some overheating, prompting the thorough inspection.
With everyone back out, Nico Hülkenberg was on top with a 1:13.652s, as Kevin Magnussen locks up, spinning. Hamilton also made a mistake at Sainte Devote and flat spotted his tyres. Lucky for Mercedes because Russell beat Hülkenberg’s time, and it was Piastri’s turn to lead the session.
The traffic in Monaco was an issue, as Leclerc’s hot lap was ruined by a group of cars in his final sector. He moved into second, with Sainz in third–Magnussen beating Sainz’ time, pushing him out of third.
Leclerc set the fastest time, with a 1:12.512s, 0.163s from Piastri, as the McLaren driver locked up and ran straight in at Sainte Devote.
Traffic was always a headache here, but this year it felt worse than ever. With qualifying looming, the track was only going to get busier, leaving everyone on edge.
Trying to nail a clean lap late in the session, with cars scattered everywhere, was enough to make anyone nervous. The race engineers had to be sharp, and the drivers were just hoping for a bit of luck to avoid any yellow or red flags.
Red Bull has work to do
Last weekend, following their disastrous Friday, Sebastian Buemi spent the night in the simulator, tirelessly gathering setup data. This effort enabled the team to make the necessary adjustments, resulting in Verstappen securing pole position and ultimately claiming the victory.
Last night, it was Liam Lawson’s turn to dedicate hours to the simulator for the same purpose.
Aston Martin has opted for the soft tires for the first time today. Albon and Russell have also switched to their second set.
Russell didn’t have a good start to his weekend, but got back in the mix today. He went second, 0.246s behind Charles Leclerc. Alonso produced a tidy lap, and he took second from Russell by just over a tenth.
Leclerc’s first flying lap didn’t improve, and it seemed like he backed out of it. As he prepared to go again, his teammate put in a hot lap, coming within 0.002 seconds of the Monégasque.
Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari HP
With just over ten minutes to go, Hamilton surged up to third place, edging ahead of Alonso by half a tenth, but still trailing Leclerc by a considerable margin. The gap up front is quite striking, sitting at 0.610 seconds.
Ferrari led from Hamilton and Alonso. Norris had jumped to fifth ahead of Verstappen, with Gasly also in the top 10, as was Albon. Meanwhile, there was a moment between Norris and Russell coming out of the tunnel, which did not impress the McLaren driver.
The leaderboard kept changing
Norris then went third as Tsunoda slotted into fourth. All was to play for that day, with the track still likely to improve during qualifying. But there came Verstappen — and he split the Ferraris. However, he was closer to Sainz than Leclerc, still trailing by 0.589 seconds.
Charles Leclerc finishes FP3 on top
Further improvements followed, with Piastri moving into second. Yet, even he couldn’t get within half a second of Leclerc. Ferrari put out an impressive lap. Charles Leclerc already had two poles there to his name, and on that form, he seemed poised to make it three.
Hamilton then went second, and Verstappen followed suit, pushing the Mercedes to third. Finally, the gaps were closing: Verstappen was 0.197 seconds behind Leclerc, with Hamilton trailing by 0.341 seconds.
That concluded practice, though Verstappen was still on a hot lap. He had to abort his lap due to traffic.
That left Charles Leclerc on top of the pile for Ferrari with a 1m 11.369s.
