Monaco GP: Verstappen leads Perez as Hamilton crash curtails Practice 3

Just 0.073s separated Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at the top in final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Red Bull drivers swapped positions consistently during the mid-part of the session, but ultimately it was the Dutchman who set the pace with a 1m12.776s.

Lance Stroll was the only other driver to go sub-1m13s in third for Aston Martin. Teammate Fernando Alonso also looked fast but couldn’t get a clean lap on his second set of tyres as the Spaniard was only 14th.

In fact, most drivers were compromised late on after Kevin Magnussen caused a prolonged yellow flag by going down the Sainte Devote escape road before pulling over just before Portier, triggering a Virtual Safety Car.

Then Lewis Hamilton would bring the action to an early end after sliding into the barrier at Mirabeau, causing light damage to the front-left of his Mercedes.

Despite crashing on Friday, Carlos Sainz was the lead Ferrari in fourth ahead of good friend Lando Norris in a strong fifth for McLaren.

Pierre Gasly also impressed in sixth for Alpine, just ahead of local favourite Charles Leclerc in seventh.

Hamilton was eighth despite his crash, as Esteban Ocon recovered from a mechanical gremlin during the opening minutes to finish ninth.

Valtteri Bottas completed the top 10 for Alfa Romeo, followed by George Russell in 11th and the two Haas’ of Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg in 12th and 13th.

Alonso was 14th, Yuki Tsunoda 15th and Zhou Guanyu was the last driver within a second of Verstappen in 16th.

Logan Sargeant led Williams teammate Alex Albon in 17th and 18th as Oscar Piastri and Nyck De Vries completed the order.

Despite Red Bull leading, the picture still remains cloudy about the pecking order which means a fascinating qualifying session to come later on Saturday!

Full results from Practice 3 can be seen below: