FP3: Ricciardo rules, Verstappen crashes

F1 Grand Prix, GP Monaco, Monte Carlo Circuit

Red Bull Racing were again in a class of their own in final practice at Monaco, with both Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen trading places at the top of the timesheet. Next up is the Ferrari duo of Vettel and Raikkonen, followed by Mercedes.

It wasn't all good news for Red Bull Racing though, as with just 8 minutes left on the clock, Verstappen made another costly error and went into the barriers in nearly identical fashion to his 2016 crash. He clipped the inside barriers on the final corner of the swimming pool complex, breaking the steering rod and sending him into the barriers on the exit of the corner. The right front was completely gone. It would later result in Verstappen missing out on qualifying as mechanics were unable to get his car repaired in 2 hours time.

Valtteri Bottas's session had ended early as well, as his attempt to spin out of the Ste. Devote run-off caused damage to the rear end of his Mercedes. The damage was minor, but enough to keep him sidelined.

Behind the top 6, Toro Rosso surprised as Brendon Hartley claimed 7th ahead of his team mate Pierre Gasly. Both men were less than a second down on the pace setting Red Bull. Carlos Sainz continued a strong run for Renault while Sergey Sirotkin completed the top 10, once again considerably outpacing his team mate Stroll.

At the back, Haas continued to struggle and saw both their cars sandwished in between Leclerc's and Ericsson's Sauber cars.