Max P2 in third practice session in Monte Carlo

Published on 24 May 2025 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen finished the third free practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix in second place. Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in his Ferrari. Lando Norris put his McLaren in P3. The McLaren of Oscar Piastri and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton completed the top five. Max’s teammate at Oracle Red Bull Racing, Yuki Tsunoda, ended the session in P9.

At the start of the third free practice, the weather in Monaco is again pleasant, just like Friday. It’s 21°C with a track temperature of 40°C. The main question going into the session is whether Max can get closer to the front of the field than the P10 finish he ended the Friday with.

When the light at the end of the pit lane turns green, Liam Lawson is the first to hit the track. Following him are Hamilton, Isack Hadjar, and Franco Colapinto. At that moment, many drivers, including Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, are not yet in their cars. While Hamilton returns to the pits immediately, it’s Colapinto who sets the first lap time.

After about ten minutes, only four times have been recorded: those of Colapinto, Lawson, Hadjar, and Hulkenberg. Gradually, more drivers start heading out, including Gabriel Bortoleto. Hamilton sets a fast lap on soft tyres but is still slightly slower than Nico Hulkenberg on mediums, missing out by 23 thousandths of a second.

Just over fifteen minutes in, Max appears on track. His first flying lap puts him second, a tenth behind Norris. Shortly after, he drops to P3 as Leclerc takes P1. A back-and-forth battle follows at the top of the timing charts between Leclerc and Norris. Soon after, Max joins the fight and takes P1 on medium tyres, edging out Norris. Tsunoda briefly slots into P2 behind Max before Leclerc reclaims the top spot from the Dutchman, going a tenth quicker.

Halfway through the session, Max makes a significant improvement, still on medium tyres, putting in three purple sectors to take back P1 from Leclerc. Right after that lap, the rapid Dutchman returns to the pits. Most of the field does the same, and the track goes quiet with just under 25 minutes remaining.

At McLaren, Piastri struggles to match the pace of his teammate Norris this weekend. The Australian, who leads the championship, is consistently behind the Brit with a gap of several tenths of a second.

With 20 minutes to go, Max heads out on a new set of soft tyres. He’s the first to do a serious qualifying simulation on the softs, but on his first attempt, he does not improve the time he set earlier. "I slid on all four wheels in Turn 8 and the final corner," Max reports over the team radio.

In the closing stages, Piastri briefly takes P3, pushing Norris back to fourth, but the Brit quickly responds and reclaims the spot. Leclerc goes faster than Max, taking P1 from the Dutchman with a gap of just under three tenths, a significant margin.

With just under two minutes remaining, Hamilton causes a red flag. The Brit crashes hard at Turn 3 in his Ferrari and comes to a stop at Turn 4. He is okay, but the session is effectively over.

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Results third free practice Monaco: