F1 Monaco, Leclerc the fastest with Ferrari in Free Practice 3

May 25, 2024 (change at 1.40pm) – MILAN

Charles Leclerc wants to put on a show in his Monaco: even in the third free practice of the F1 GP in Monte Carlo he put his Ferrari ahead of everyone, as already happened in FP2 on Friday. Behind the Monegasque, two tenths of a second, Max Verstappen – under investigation for excessively slow driving a few seconds before the end of the session – while third is Hamilton with the Mercedes at three tenths. Seventh Sainz, six tenths behind his Ferrari teammate.

leclerc load

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In short, it’s a Ferrari that you like. Leclerc and Sainz confirmed the impressions of the first day, in particular the Monegasque who as soon as he got into the top positions and then in the lead, never fell from the top of the rankings. The SF-24s seem excellently balanced, allowing the two Cavallino drivers to pass over the curbs much more aggressively than the competition, in particular that of Red Bull and Mercedes, which are more difficult in terms of set-up. The session was a bit slow at the start, and was also interrupted by a crash from Valtteri Bottas, who broke his right front suspension just before the Rascasse and had to walk back to the pits.

max dangerous but…

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Leclerc pushed forward and his times continually improved, until the final 1’11”369 with which he edged Verstappen by 197 thousandths. He is the logical favorite to win pole which on this track could mean having half a race and perhaps more in his pocket. Ferrari goes and Carlos Sainz also demonstrates it, who finished seventh. Verstappen pushed, but couldn’t take risks like Leclerc and therefore today in qualifying he will really have to perform a sort of miracle to continue to remain the king of poles in 2024 (he has won them all so far). The world champion, especially at the end of the session, however showed that he wanted to try and remains a bogeyman.

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mclaren lurking

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Third time for Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes, who also has Russell sixth behind Sergio Perez. It remains to be seen what the McLarens will be able to do, revelations from the last two GPs in Miami and Imola. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished fourth and eighth, but it didn’t seem like they pushed too much in these third free practices. The two only set their best times in the finale and they too are candidates for qualifications to follow. Disappointments for the Saubers on the day, with Bottas missing the session due to the accident and Zhou second to last. Daniel Ricciardo’s session wasn’t great either, taking almost a second from teammate Tsunoda in ninth. A somewhat anonymous session for the Aston Martins of Alonso (10th) and Stroll (15th).