F1 Monaco GP live commentary and updates - FP3

Join us again later for qualifying!

It really could go in any direction.

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

The Hamilton crash incident has been noted - Antonelli and Ocon were ahead, and the stewards may well review it to see if the traffic contributed to the accident.

Colapinto has also been noted for a red-flag infringement.

Hamilton got a swapper on at Massenet and just washed out into the outside wall. He parks up next to the casino, as he's knocked the right-front tyre off the rim.

Russell is told that his rivals are doing "double cools" and asked if he wants to follow suit. "You'll have to tell me what you want - I'm nowhere and I'm running out of ideas". 

Norris gets a 1m11.247s, so perhaps the change in tyre prep is working. Hamilton gets a best first sector, but he's backed out as he approaches a Sauber at the chicane.

Piastri might have found something here - the Australian finds a purple middle sector and gets within 0.172s of Verstappen. 

Leclerc has also taken it a little easier in sector 1, and then sets a best middle sector. He takes it up to a 1m11.179s, as he draws a time out of those softs.

Leclerc improves with a better sector 1 and is 0.211s behind Verstappen, but these C6s aren't lasting through the lap. Hamilton moves up to fourth, but also loses time in the final sector. 

Sainz does indeed find some time and gets closer to Albon - he's up to sixth overall. 

Leclerc tries another lap but can't find any more time. Verstappen's also finding a lot of sliding on the C6s, and reports he has 'no grip'.

Norris pulls up to third, 0.246s off Verstappen's medium-tyre pace.

We're going to get Verstappen vs Leclerc on a like-for-like set of C6s now, as both drivers hit the track. 

Verstappen's actually down on his lap by the middle sector, and he's 0.064s down on his best on mediums. Leclerc's backed off on his lap - tyre prep seems to be very difficult with the C6s. Hamilton doesn't improve either.

"The car is giving me a good feeling, I just need to see where I can be quicker," Sainz says. He reckons he can dig more time out of himself, as he's currently 0.6s off Albon.

Hulkenberg hurls his Sauber up to seventh on the soft, so there's still time to be made out there.

Current FP3 order

1. Verstappen, 2. Leclerc, 3. Norris, 4. Hamilton, 5. Albon, 6. Tsunoda, 7. Russell, 8. Piastri, 9. Antonelli, 10. Sainz.

Expect that to change as we approach the final quarter of the session.

I'm going to take Verstappen's laps as validation of my theory that if you're going to stay out on track to do four hot laps, the medium is the tyre for you.

Ferrari and McLaren have tried to run to a similar 'plan' by using the same set of softs for all of their laps - but the C6s have dropped off as the track has improved. 

Stroll gets back up to second, doing a 1m12.941s on mediums. Norris then finds more time, and unlocks a 1m12.347s from the car to shuffle ahead of Leclerc.

It's going to be pretty interesting in qualifying - if you're confident you can throw it all down on one lap, then the softs will do the job. If you're anticipating a few goes, fuel the car up and go out on the mediums.

Hulkenberg has a moment at Anthony Noghes, locking up just before the final corner. Our pacesetter did his time on mediums, with the softs not looking in a particularly good place over a full lap so far.

Now, Hulkenberg raises the bar with a 1m13.916s to keep the running going. Hadjar sets two purple sectors, but loses time in the last part of the lap and falls just 0.049s short of the German.

Hamilton now gets onto the road, and sits 0.023s shy of Hulkenberg - so it very much suggests the circuit is a little bit green around the gills this morning - or that Hamilton just wasn't really pushing all that hard.

"The rear is sliding a lot," Hamilton says, as Leclerc only goes sixth for now.

"Track is very low grip," Lawson says. The Saubers join Lawson and Colapinto to get some laps on the board, and help the circuit rubber in a bit.

Colapinto does a 1m15.852s now, with Lawson on a 1m16.075s. This very much looks like rhythm running while the track is clear, so it's not entirely surprising that the laps are still shy of yesterday's pace.

Still, if you need the confidence, getting laps in will be the perfect tonic - Lawson then does a 1m15.171s to go top.

That overhead shot above Mirabeau is very cool, nice to see the usual camera angles are open to experimentation!

Colapinto kicks us off with a 1m21.905s. It's a lap. It's 10 seconds slower than the fastest time yesterday. Nothing we can read into that.

Weather report

The sun is shining, it's 21C, and the track is around 38C. It's warm, but not likely to be much effect on the tyres - Pirelli reckons the hards could do the whole race distance very easily.

Five minutes to FP3

And with FP3, a chance to see if anyone's made any overnight gains. Red Bull felt it took a backwards step with changes from FP1 to FP2, Ferrari felt good, and McLaren reckoned it wasn't too far off. What about Mercedes? Can Williams or Aston Martin break into the top 5? 

Let's see.

Friday's thrills and spills

Monaco's walls are punishing - as these three drivers found out on Friday.

Leclerc hit Stroll in FP1 and required a new front wing. Stroll, for his part, had too much damage to return to the circuit in the opening practice session.

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

Hadjar knocked the inside wall at the Nouvelle Chicane and took his tyre off the rim. His brief stoppage and debris caused a red flag. Later in the session, the Frenchman broke his rear suspension after hitting the wall at Turn 1

Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images

Even championship leaders aren't invulnerable! Piastri locked up at Turn 1 and couldn't get the turn-in to the Sainte Devote run-off - he instead speared into the wall.

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

Friday practice recap

In FP1, Charles Leclerc led the way from Max Verstappen, after recovering from a hairpin clash with Lance Stroll. The Canadian had just let through traffic, and coalesced with Leclerc on the racing line - leading to a Ferrari missing a front wing and a damaged Aston Martin.

Leclerc was also quickest in FP2, with a 0.038s advantage over McLaren's Oscar Piastri - the Australian had earlier produced a brief red flag when he knocked his front wing off at Sainte Devote.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

FP1 results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

1

 - 

4

Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	33	1'11.964		S	166.933
2	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	30	+0.163 1'12.127	0.163	S	166.556
3	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	32	+0.326 1'12.290	0.163	S	166.180
4	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	33	+0.350 1'12.314	0.024	S	166.125
5	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	28	+0.378 1'12.342	0.028	M	166.061
View full results

FP2 results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

1

 - 

4

Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	32	1'11.355		S	168.358
2	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	28	+0.038 1'11.393	0.038	S	168.268
3	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	30	+0.105 1'11.460	0.067	S	168.110
4	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	32	+0.322 1'11.677	0.217	S	167.601
5	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	32	+0.468 1'11.823	0.146	S	167.261
View full results

Monaco Grand Prix Saturday sessions - FP3 starts soon

Good morning everyone, and welcome to our live coverage for the Monaco Grand Prix. FP3's about 25 minutes away from starting up, and we'll be bringing you everything that goes on before we jump to qualifying later on.

We've already had one race today, the F3 sprint - we'll spare you any spoilers if you've not seen it.