F1 News: Leclerc keeps Ferrari on top in final Monaco GP Practice

Charles Leclerc is the clear favorite to win pole for the 2024 Monaco GP after again topping the final practice session in his #16 Ferrari with a time of 1m11.369s.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Max Verstappen inched closer to the top spot after a disappointing Friday with a time of 1m11.566s in his Red Bull Honda, 0.197s behind Leclerc. Verstappen will be gunning for a record 9th straight pole in about two hours time.

Verstappen set a blistering first sector time before hitting traffic, so we do not yet know what he is really capable of.

Lewis Hamilton, after an earlier off, recovered to go 3rd quick, 0.341s behind Leclerc.

Oscar Piastri was 4th in his McLaren, 0.532s behind Leclerc.

Sergio Perez rounded out thetop-5 in the 2nd Red Bull, 0.554s behind Leclerc. “We have a lot of work to do, the car is nowhere,” says Perez.

“We have a lot of work to do, the car is nowhere,” says Perez.

As he was in FP2, Leclerc is the man to beat in qualifying coming up. He has a proven record over one lap, knows what it takes to grab pole here and is in a very, very quick car.

Leclerc didn’t put a foot wrong in that session, and he just needs to carry this into qualifying to be in with a great shout of a first pole of the year.

Except for Leclerc, there isn’t much in it between the Mercedes cars, the Bulls, the Aston Martins and the McLaren duo. But it’s also really tight further back – RB look strong, so does Albon in the Williams and even Gasly might get involved today.

Can Verstappen keep his pole record going – or is Leclerc going to send the home fans wild?

2024 Monaco GP Practice 3 Results