Verstappen tops red flagged final practice

Max Verstappen has topped a red flag shortened final practice session ahead of tomorrow’s Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.

The session was stopped with two minutes left on the clock when Mick Schumacher found the wall exiting Casino Square.

The German lost the Haas on the apex of the corner, tagging the wall with the left-rear before the front followed it in.

It was the second time the red flag had been shown during the session, Nicholas Latifi having nosed into the barriers exiting the Swimming Pool with just under 18 minutes to run.

Verstappen recorded a session’s best of 1:11.294s to narrowly edge Carlos Sainz on a 1:11.341s.

However, it was the Ferrari driver who looked the better of the two, the Spaniard’s tyres far older that those on the Red Bull.

Third best was Charles Leclerc, reinforcing the strength the Scuderia showed during Thursday’s two practice sessions.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was just seventh best in the final session prior to qualifying, while his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas was fourth best.

It was a slow start, indeed Hamilton only climbed into his car with 10 minutes already on the clock in the hour-long session.

As it had been on Thursday, traffic remained a critical issue.

That was evidenced best by a near miss mid-session between Lando Norris and Sainz.

A mix up between the two saw the McLaren driver nearly plough into the rear of the Ferrari as they approached Antony Noughes.

There were several other near misses, both with traffic and the barriers, with Leclerc brushing the barriers on at least one occasion.

Heading in to qualifying, Ferrari remains a firm favourite, the SF21 showing itself to be especially compliant over the bumps.

Verstappen’s Red Bull appeared less well balanced, the Dutchman muscling his car far more to generate the lap time.

Mercedes has its work cut out, with cooler conditions appearing to hinder it from generating the tyre temperature it needed to match the front runners.

Hamilton even had a near miss, locking the rears at the second part of the Swimming Pool complex before correcting the snap and skating through the run-off area.

At McLaren, Norris ended the session with the sixth fastest time, while Daniel Ricciardo was just 13th.

The Australian reported traction issues over the radio, though was clearly more confident on the brakes, especially through the Nouvelle Chicane.

Nevertheless, his 1:12.959s was some 1.6s away from the outright pace, and a second away from Norris.

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix follows from 23:00 AEST this evening.

Results: Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, Free Practice 3

Pos	Num	Driver	Team	Tim	Diff	Laps
1	33	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA	1:11.294		19
2	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	1:11.341	+0.047s	28
3	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	1:11.552	+0.258s	27
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	MERCEDES	1:11.765	+0.471s	21
5	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA	1:11.817	+0.523s	18
6	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	1:11.988	+0.694s	20
7	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	1:12.020	+0.726s	20
8	7	Kimi Räikkönen	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	1:12.298	+1.004s	25
9	10	Pierre Gasly	ALPHATAURI HONDA	1:12.357	+1.063s	28
10	5	Sebastian Vettel	ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES	1:12.537	+1.243s	24
11	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	1:12.539	+1.245s	21
12	18	Lance Stroll	ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES	1:12.700	+1.406s	22
13	3	Daniel Ricciardo	MCLAREN MERCEDES	1:12.959	+1.665s	25
14	47	Mick Schumacher	HAAS FERRARI	1:13.139	+1.845s	21
15	14	Fernando Alonso	ALPINE RENAULT	1:13.329	+2.035s	19
16	9	Nikita Mazepin	HAAS FERRARI	1:13.390	+2.096s	20
17	63	George Russell	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:13.447	+2.153s	29
18	6	Nicholas Latifi	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:13.475	+2.181s	22
19	22	Yuki Tsunoda	ALPHATAURI HONDA	1:13.522	+2.228s	30
20	31	Esteban Ocon	ALPINE RENAULT	1:13.614	+2.320s	18