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Monaco GP
F1 Monaco GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
Updates from Saturday's F1 FP3 and qualifying sessions ahead of the Monaco GP.
Fresh from the Spanish GP, the F1 action continues with the Monaco GP.
Max Verstappen is the new Formula 1 world championship leader after winning the Spanish GP, as Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from a dominant lead in the race due to a MGU-H and turbo failure with his Ferrari.
Third and final practice for the Monaco GP gets underway at 12.00pm BST (1.00pm local time) before the all-important qualifying session which starts at 3.00pm BST (4.00pm local time).
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The Turn 14 incident between Verstappen and Zhou will be investigated after the session
Hamilton is now up to seventh, with Russell in ninth
The Turn 18 incident involving Perez and Russell has also been noted - Russell said on the radio he almost crashed into the back of the Red Bull
Stopwatch
Perez is back on top with a 1m12.554, but Leclerc has just set a purple middle sector...
and it's enough to return him to the top spot! Leclerc goes quickest with a 1m12.517s
Two minutes left on the clock in the weekend's final practice session
No further investigation for the Turn 3 Vettel / Sainz incident
Stopwatch
Perez goes quickest again - 1m12.476s
Checkered flag
The chequered flag is out!
The Turn 18 Perez / Russell incident will be investigated after the session
FP3 is over, and Perez led from Leclerc and Sainz, with Verstappen in fourth
Qualifying takes place in just two hours time - can Leclerc take pole again?
Read the full report from FP3 here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-monaco-gp-perez-beats-leclerc-to-top-final-practice/10312339/
That's all from us for now - we'll be back just before 3pm BST for qualifying
Lights green
Good afternoon one and all - it is almost time for the most important session of the Monaco GP weekend: Qualifying.
Leclerc held the advantage across Friday practice, topping both FP1 and FP2, but lost out to Perez on the clean sweep of practice top spots by 0.041s.
It looks set to be a straight fight between the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers for pole today, with Mercedes off the outright pace and back to fighting off the top of the midfield contenders.
But that's just practice, it only counts in the sessions coming up. As mentioned earlier, qualifying is arguably just as important as the race itself, with 68% of Monaco GPs won by drivers who start on the front row.
That Monaco GP front row start winners stat is actually a smaller percentage than for the Spanish GP, but it just feels more important to get it right in Monaco, you know?
To demonstrate what we mean, the last winner to come from lower than even third place on the grid was way back in 1996. Olivier Panis. Yeah, *that* race.
The pre-qualifying fact finding mission also threw up this gem. The last driver to take back-to-back poles in Monaco was Nico Rosberg in 2013 and 2014. Charles Leclerc was technically the polesitter here last year.
Sun
Weather check: Lovely and sunny. A bit cooler than yesterday's FP2 at 26C which has also taken the edge off the track temperature at 47.8C. Tomorrow's weather forecast is very different. Anyone for a wet race?
Lights green
Here we go for Q1. Time to decide the back of the grid.
Lots of early takers in Q1, all looking for that early banker. Given the short lap these times will be coming thick and fast throughout the session.
Stopwatch
Norris leads the early efforts with a 1m15.800s, ahead of Bottas and Vettel.
Hamilton then goes quickest with a 1m15.369s, before Perez beats that with a 1m14.369s. Told you it'd be changing quickly.
Quote
"I have no grip whatsoever," Russell reports on team radio as he only goes ninth fastest.
Stopwatch
Verstappen is now quickest with a 1m14.295s. But here come the Ferrari pair...
...But Leclerc can't topple the Red Bull 1-2 as he slots into fourth. Sainz backed out of his own lap which leaves him last.
Track evolution in play, as Alonso goes top from Norris. This'll be a frantic Q1.
Stopwatch
Perez goes quickest with the exact same time as Sainz of 1m13.292s but as the Red Bull driver set the time first he takes top spot as it stands.
Stopwatch
Leclerc, who is out of sync with the field as Ferrari released him and Sainz later than the rest, goes quickest with a 1m12.939s.
At the other end of the times, it is Vettel, Zhou, Latifi, Bottas and Schumacher in the Q1 drop zone.
Verstappen slots into second place just 0.054s off Leclerc's leading lap.
Stopwatch
Hamilton, who had dropped to 14th and towards the danger zone, puts in a better lap to go sixth quickest with a 1m13.444s.
Stopwatch
A Ferrari 1-2 appears at the top with Leclerc's 1m12.569s and Sainz's 1m12.616s. They should be comfortably into Q2 with five minutes of this session to go.
Schumacher jumps from the Q1 elimination zone to eighth place, which pushes Stroll into the troubled area.
Stroll pulls off the same trick to go 11th, to leave Tsunoda with work to do.
Bottas goes from last to 10th, as Vettel also lifts himself out of the drop zone.
Red flag
Red flag!
By: Autosport Staff
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