Monaco – Free Practice 3: Hamilton leads the pack before qualifying

After the traditional Friday without any running, the Formula 1 cars are back on the streets of the Principality under a beautiful blue sky for the final practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix.

**At the green light**, Daniel Ricciardo is the first to leave the pits on soft tires followed by the majority of the other drivers who need to take advantage of the weather conditions to make up for the time lost during free practice 2 in particular. Almost everyone is content with one or two installation laps at the start of the session to make sure everything is fine.

The first to set a timed lap is Marcus Ericsson at the wheel of his Caterham, quickly overtaken by his Japanese teammate, Kamui Kobayashi. Nico Rosberg takes the lead but the Swede regains first place immediately after.

The drivers get to work – notably at Mercedes, Caterham, McLaren, and Lotus – right from the start of the session to best prepare for qualifying and the race, so there is activity on the track and traffic.

First yellow flag after just over 8 minutes due to Marcus Ericsson going straight off at the first corner. The Swede got away with it by using the reverse gear of his Caterham but almost got hit by Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes, which was arriving after setting the fastest time.

After 15 minutes, the Mercedes are in front, with Rosberg ahead of Hamilton. The on-track activity is intensifying with the appearance of Williams, Ferrari, Toro Rosso, and Sauber, which complicates finding space to set a time.

After the arrival of the Red Bull, Force India, and Marussia on the track as well, Kamui Kobayashi is the first to switch to the super-soft tires after 20 minutes. On the McLaren side, Jenson Button is experiencing some issues with his brakes, which is not ideal on a street circuit like Monaco.

At mid-session, Rosberg is still leading ahead of Hamilton. Following are the Red Bulls, Vettel ahead of Ricciardo, Alonso, Magnussen, Räikkönen, Pérez, Massa, and Vergne closing the top 10. The hierarchy changes regularly, however, especially with Grosjean, 19th until then, deciding to switch to super-softs and the Frenchman improves to 11th. In his second lap, the Lotus driver sets the 6th fastest time.

On the Ferrari and Mercedes side in particular, the work continues on soft tires. The performance runs to prepare for qualifying will take place a little later. Rosberg, meanwhile, takes the opportunity to improve the fastest lap and gain a half-second lead over his teammate 25 minutes before the end of the session.

After 45 minutes, Daniel Ricciardo takes the lead in his second timed lap on super-softs while many drivers are in their pits, but not Pérez, who grabs 3rd place thanks to a lap on super-softs.

Ten minutes before the end of the session, activity on the track picks up significantly, and Vettel takes 2nd place behind his teammate, on super-soft tires of course, as these tires are the most used at the end of the session to prepare for qualifying.

With more drivers on the track, managing traffic well becomes crucial for setting a good lap. Vettel, who was ahead of Ricciardo’s best time, ultimately has to settle for an average lap after encountering a Williams on his path. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton takes advantage to take the lead with a 0.050-second margin over Ricciardo, who is the only one in the pits at the end of the session.

At the end of the session, Rosberg, who was well on his way after 2 sectors to overtake Hamilton, had to finally settle for 3rd place. The session ends with Lewis Hamilton clocking the fastest time ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Rosberg. Vettel and the Ferraris follow.