F1: Verstappen tops FP3 as Hamilton crashes out in Monaco

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Defending World Champion Max Verstappen turned a lap of 1m12.776s to top the final practice for the Monaco GP by 0.073s over his Red Bull Honda teammate Sergio Perez.

The session was red flagged and ended early when Lewis Hamilton, on a hot lap, ran out of talent at Mirabeau and clouted the barriers with his left front.  Replays show he got a bit of a snap on corner entry, couldn’t correct in time and ran straight on into the barriers.

They had to crane the car high into the air to get it off the track as photographers snapped spy photos of the secret underside of the car. Mercedes won’t be too happy about that, especially given they are running so many upgrades here.

Lewis Hamilton’s car gets craned away

Lance Stroll was third fastest for Aston Martin, just 0.166s behind Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz Jr was 4th for Ferrari, 0.485s back, while Lando Norris rounded out the top-5 in his McLaren.

#55 Carlos Sainz, Ferrari during the Monaco GP, 25-28 May 2023 at Montecarlo, Formula 1 World championship 2023.

Red Bull cannot be discounted, despite all their chat ahead of the weekend of not necessarily being strong here. Both drivers were pushing each other hard in that session, and both are in the mix.

Aston Martin also looked quick, with Alonso the pick despite Stroll actually winding up slightly higher on the timing sheets, thanks to being one of very few to get a clean lap in at the end.

Ferrari was a mixed bag. They look quick but erratic, with Leclerc really struggling with the set-up of his car. Sainz looks the happier of the two, but has he really managed to put yesterday’s mistake to bed? If so, he could be a force to be reckoned with later on. If not, he might leave too much on the table.

As for Leclerc, he’s going to be busy analyzing the data and hoping he can tweak his set up and prevent those issues that were costing him lap time through the Swimming Pool chicane.

Mercedes now has to fix Hamilton’s car, and will be hoping it was just the front wing that took the brunt of the damage there, rather than the suspension. Can the seven-time world champion put that mistake behind him?

He has a mixed record at Monaco, three wins – all of them fairly memorable – and two poles, but this is a track that didn’t always suit the Silver Arrows when they were at their best.

#44 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes during the Monaco GP, 25-28 May 2023 at Montecarlo, Formula 1 World championship 2023.

Practice 3 Results

POS NO DRIVER CAR TIME GAP LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda 1:12.776 +0.000s 19
2 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda 1:12.849 +0.073s 24
3 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:12.942 +0.166s 20
4 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:13.261 +0.485s 20
5 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1:13.396 +0.620s 21
6 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 1:13.453 +0.677s 24
7 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:13.475 +0.699s 19
8 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:13.486 +0.710s 17
9 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1:13.496 +0.720s 18
10 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:13.521 +0.745s 20
11 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:13.590 +0.814s 18
12 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:13.624 +0.848s 13
13 27 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 1:13.650 +0.874s 16
14 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:13.697 +0.921s 18
15 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Honda 1:13.738 +0.962s 21
16 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:13.772 +0.996s 20
17 2 Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes 1:13.851 +1.075s 19
18 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 1:13.930 +1.154s 23
19 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 1:13.998 +1.222s 18
20 21 Nyck De Vries AlphaTauri Honda 1:14.187 +1.411s 24

 

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