FP3 LIVE | The third free practice session for the F1 Monaco Grand Prix

Live: FP3 for the Monaco Grand Prix

Especially at Red Bull Racing there is still plenty of room for improvement after the two Friday practice sessions. Ferrari turned out to be some three tenths faster than the RB18s of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, so the right balance still has to be found for Christian Horner's drivers. Helmut Marko did indicate afterwards that the Austrians know what caused the slower pace in FP1 and FP2.

Charles Leclerc is in a good rhythm and was the fastest in both sessions on Friday. Carlos Sainz, however, did not have to concede much and so things look rosy for Ferrari in the principality. In the midfield, there is no way to tell for the time being. McLaren, Mercedes, AlphaTauri, Alpine, Aston Martin, Haas F1 and Alfa Romeo are incredibly close to each other and this once again indicates the importance of a productive final practice session.

The third free practice session will start at 12:00 UK time. It is again quite warm in Monaco, although the temperature does not exceed 30 degrees Celsius today.

 

 

 

 

 

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Overtaking around Monaco 

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix is notoriously known as the most important Saturday session of the entire year. Though that point isn't exactly true when looking at the data. It wasn't the case last time out in Spain but pole position in Barcelona as won an incredible 72% of races. Monaco is still high for Formula 1, but way down in comparison at 45%. Since 2015, pole position has won twice at Monaco. Prior to that, there was a six-race run of the pole-sitter also taking the victory on Sunday. 

However, in the last four Monaco Grands Prix, there have been less than 10 on track overtakes combined. So what happened to the pole-sitter? In 2021, Leclerc secured pole position but crashed on the way back to the garage. Ferrari thought they had solved the problem, but on the way to the grid Leclerc broke down. There was no Grand Prix in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2017, 2016 and 2015 the race-winning move occurred in the pitlane. 

The pressure on the pit crew in Monaco is immense. The undercut is extremely powerful, and any mistake in the pitlane is, therefore, more costly. Mercedes estimate the drive-through time at 19.4 seconds. Against fresh tyres, that's difficult to combat. With the safety car probability at 60%, teams also have to be quick on the button to react and bring their driver in for an advantageous pitstop. 

Our indications suggest that Ferrari will be on top, with Mercedes and Red Bull battling for the second row. Perhaps Valtteri Bottas can spring a surprise. Though we know, one small mistake in Monaco creates huge changes.