Vettel fastest in tight final Monaco practice

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Monaco, Monte Carlo Circuitmc

Sebastian Vettel was the fastest man this morning in the final free practice session ahead of qualifying for the Monaco GP. After a disappointing two sessions on Thursday, the German found extra pace in his Ferrari, ending up narrowly ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton on his behalf was also just a tenth ahead of his team mate, while Thursday's fastest man, Daniel Ricciardo was 4th fastest, also less than 2 tenths of a second behind the pace setting Ferrari.

Ricciardo's team mate at Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, ended up in 5th, even though his session was shortened as he swiped the right hand side of his car against the barriers, having come up the hill at Massenet slightly too opportunistic. He damaged the front wing and the suspension during that event, but he managed to return to the pits without help.

The most notable incident came early in the session when Joylon Palmer lost control of his Renault around the swimming pool. He spun 360° and hit the barriers, but he too managed to make it back to the pits.

All in all, qualifying is set to be a thriller as three teams appear to be on nearly equal footing to claiming pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Results

..
Pos.No.DriverTeamTimeGapLaps
15Sebastian VettelFerrari1:14.650-25
244Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:14.668+0.018s24
36Nico RosbergMercedes1:14.772+0.122s29
43Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing1:14.807+0.157s22
533Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing1:15.081+0.431s17
626Daniil KvyatToro Rosso1:15.259+0.609s23
755Carlos SainzToro Rosso1:15.324+0.674s26
811Sergio PerezForce India1:15.368+0.718s21
97Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:15.555+0.905s22
1027Nico HulkenbergForce India1:15.666+1.016s20
1119Felipe MassaWilliams1:16.068+1.418s29
1214Fernando AlonsoMclaren1:16.257+1.607s24
1322Jenson ButtonMclaren1:16.298+1.648s23
1477Valtteri BottasWilliams1:16.347+1.697s21
1521Esteban GutierrezHaas1:16.406+1.756s23
1620Kevin MagnussenRenault1:16.412+1.762s13
178Romain GrosjeanHaas1:16.527+1.877s27
1812Felipe NasrSauber1:16.867+2.217s23
199Marcus EricssonSauber1:17.038+2.388s32
2030Jolyon PalmerRenault1:17.482+2.832s17
2194Pascal WehrleinManor1:17.595+2.945s32
2288Rio HaryantoManor1:18.180+3.530s34