Leclerc stays ahead of Verstappen, Hamilton before Monaco Qualifying

Charles Leclerc continued his promising start to the Monaco Grand Prix weekend by again setting the fastest time in the final practice session ahead of Qualifying on Saturday.

The session was briefly interrupted due to a red flag caused by Valtteri Bottas damaging his right front suspension after clipping the wall and then blocking the track at Rascasse, with the accident ending the Sauber driver’s participation in the session as well.

When Practice Three resumed though, it was Friday’s fastest driver Leclerc who was soon at the top of the timesheet again, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen once more struggling to match the Ferrari man’s pace after repeatedly losing time in the second and third sectors of the lap.

The 26-year-old, who is aiming to win his home race for the first time, put in a best lap of 1:11.369 and will be aiming to replicate that showing in Qualifying later today, live on Sky Sports F1. Reigning world champion Verstappen, meanwhile, closed to within 0.197 seconds of him in the closing stages of the session.

Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton’s encouraging weekend continued as he put in the third-fastest time of the session, dipping under the 1min 12sec mark after a slow start to Practice Three, with Mercedes team-mate George Russell in sixth, sandwiching the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

More to follow…

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Monaco GP Practice Three Timesheet

Driver Team Time
1) Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.369
2) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.197
3) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.341
4) Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.532
5) Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.554
6) George Russell Mercedes +0.599
7) Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.610
8) Lando Norris McLaren +0.619
9) Yuki Tsunoda RB +0.622
10) Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.718
11) Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.775
12) Alex Albon Williams +0.811
13) Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.823
14) Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.847
15) Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.962
16) Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.103
17) Logan Sargeant Williams +1.334
18) Daniel Ricciardo RB +1.460
19) Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1.460
20) Valtteri Bottas Sauber No time

Sky Sports F1’s live Monaco GP and Indy 500 schedule

Saturday May 25
1.10pm: F2 Sprint*
2.15pm: Monaco GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: Monaco GP Qualifying*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday May 26
6.55am: F3 Feature Race
8.35am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Monaco GP build-up*
2pm: The MONACO GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Monaco GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
5.30pm: The Indy 500

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

It’s time for the most-famous F1 race of them all – the Monaco Grand Prix. Watch every session from the famous street circuit live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 2pm. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime

Source : Sky Sports