The 3rd and final Free Practice session for the Formula 1 TAG Heuer Grand Prix de Monaco, held at siesta time on Saturday, saw Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) once again set the fastest time, as he had done in the two previous sessions on Friday, so that he could arrive at 4 p.m. for qualifying with full confidence. The session ended with a red flag, two minutes before the end, after Lewis Hamilton lost control of his Ferrari at the top of the Ostend uphill portion, just before reaching the Casino square in Monte-Carlo.
As on Friday, Leclerc was ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) and the two McLaren drivers, with championship leader Oscar Piastri ahead of Lando Norris. But Verstappen injected a little suspense into this sunny afternoon in the Principality: he set the 2nd fastest time on Pirelli Medium tyres, just two tenths behind Leclerc who had set his best time on Soft tyres. Will Leclerc manage to keep an edge on Verstappen when the Dutch maestro goes out with Soft Tyres, at the end of Q3?
Hamilton could only manage 5th place in this session, half a second behind Leclerc, and he walked back to the Ferrari pits leaving his SF-25 a little damaged and without a front tyre on the rim of his car. Confidence is important in Monaco, so it wasn’t a good point to go out at the end of free practice, but the seven-time world champion knows how to bounce back, so anything is still possible in qualifying.
In the midfield chasing pack, Alex Albon put his Williams in 6th place, just ahead of the Racing Bull of Liam Lawson, the Kiwi sidelined by Red Bull Racing at the start of the season, in Japan. And his team-mate Isack Hadjar, in the other Racing Bull car, fell back to 17th place in this session, which started gently and ended with a bang.
The suspense-filled qualifying session gets underway at 16:00. The time to beat, the reference time, is 1:10.270 set by Charles the Monegasque last year. All bets are off…
📊 Here are the results of the final Free Practice session 🏎️
Make it 3 for Charles Leclerc 👑
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📊 Voici les résultats de la dernière séance d’Essais Libres 🏎️
Charles Leclerc réalise une nouvelle fois le meilleur temps 👑#MonacoGP #F1 #MonacoCircuit pic.twitter.com/0dHOEKTnU2
— Automobile Club de Monaco (@ACM_Media) May 24, 2025