FP3: Perez finds speed to top final practice in Monaco

F1 Grand Prix, GP Monaco, Monte Carlo Circuit

After Ferrari's Charles Leclerc dominated the opening day in Monte Carlo, Red Bull's Sergio Perez set the pace in the final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, beating the Scuderia's duo of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Drivers were in no rush to head out on to the circuit as track conditions were far from ideal at the start of the session following a rain shower overnight. However, some drivers, including Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo were adamant to gain experience in the last session ahead of the all-important qualifying as they were both hampered by issues of different natures on Friday.

The majority of the drivers opted for the soft compound for both their runs to try to fine-tune their setups for the qualifying session which is usually the most important part of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend given the difficulty regarding overtaking opportunities.

While Leclerc set the pace after the first runs, Perez recorded the fastest lap in the dying minutes of the 60-minute session, posting a time of 1m12.476s. Home favourite Leclerc had to settle for second, recording a timet hat was 0.041s slower than the Mexican’s benchmark.

Both Carlos Sainz and reigning champion Max Verstappen appeared to lack a bit of pace compared to their teammates with the Spaniard setting the third and the Dutchman the fourth fastest time in the end.

Fortunately, there was no major incident in the final session, but Lance Stroll flirted with the walls at the exit of the swimming pool chicance, causing damage to the front wing of his Aston Martin.

Following a successful Friday, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Lando Norries continued to impress with their ultimate pace, taking 5th and 6th respectively.

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were unable to replicate their speed they showed in Miami and Barcelona with both of them struggling for balance at corner exits. It was the seven-time world champion, who appeared to have more serious issues at the beginning of the session, but he managed to climb up the order and record the 7th fastest lap, going a tenth of a second faster than his team mate.

The mid field was once again tightly matched with only a couple of tenths of a second separating the eighth-placed Kevin Magnussen and the 15th-placed Albon.

Williams driver Alexander Albon was in a good shape once again, securing P15 in the final practice. His team mate Nicholas Latifi rounded out the leaderboard, going over 2.4s slower than Perez’s benchmark.