Formula 1 returns to one of the most prestigious venues on the calendar as the famous Circuit de Monaco plays host to the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend.
Max Verstappen got back to winning ways last time out in Imola, though the Red Bull driver did have to thwart a late challenge from Lando Norris, who finished less than a second behind.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium and this weekend will compete at his home race where, following years of near-misses, he is yet to secure a top-three finish.
Verstappen won last year’s race in Monaco, setting it up after a pulsating qualifying lap denied Fernando Alonso pole position, while Lewis Hamilton is a three-time winner around the tight twists and turns of the principality.
Follow live updates from the Monaco Grand Prix with The Independent
F1 MONACO GRAND PRIX – LATEST UPDATES
Lewis Hamilton goes P3!
12:22 , Kieran Jackson
Ten minutes to go and Lewis Hamilton looks to be continuing his impressive weekend, going third-fastest – but six-tenths off Charles Leclerc’s new best time of 1:11:369!
Sainz is second, also six-tenths back, with Fernando Alonso now fourth.
It looks to be Leclerc’s to lose this afternoon at this rate! 10 minutes to go.
Top-10: Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, Alonso, Norris, Verstappen, Gasly, Piastri, Albon, Russell
Ferrari one-two with 20 to go!
12:11 , Kieran Jackson
Most cars now back in the pits with 20 minutes to go as they make their final preparations before the end of the session!
The status of play? It’s looking good, Ferrari fans!
Charles Leclerc remains top with a 1:11:977, three-tenths clear of his team-mate Carlos Sainz in second! Max Verstappen is a tenth further back in fourth, with Yuki Tsunoda and Oscar Piastri completing the top-five!
6-10: Norris, Albon, Magnussen, Hamilton, Gasly
How will that change, in the final dress rehearsal before qualifying?!
Monaco snaps!
12:05 , Kieran Jackson
Charles Leclerc fastest again!
12:03 , Kieran Jackson
You feel as though it’s a big day in the Monegasque’s season and, so far, it’s looking good for Charles Leclerc!
He’s fastest after half-an-hour in this final practice session, with his time of 1:12:242 two-tenths quicker than Max Verstappen in second.
Game on.
Top-10: Leclerc, Verstappen, Tsunoda, Piastri, Sainz, Albon, Norris, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Perez
Think there’s a problem with Lewis Hamilton’s car – he’s down in P18 and is still in the pits. He did pause for a while behind Bottas at Rascasse when he crashed… not sure why…
Lewis Hamilton spins!
11:54 , Kieran Jackson
It’s all happening in third practice!
Lewis Hamilton screws up at turn one – “tyres are dead mate” – and has a spin in the run-off area, while Kevin Magnussen is also forced to spin in the run-off area by the casino!
And it’s a very busy track now, every driver is out aside from Bottas.
Current top-3: Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz
Valtteri Bottas crash!
11:45 , Kieran Jackson
The Sauber driver hit the wall coming out of the swimming pool section, with his right tyre deviating off course and he was unable to get back to the pits!
That’s his session over, as he gets pushed off track.
And we’re now back underway with 45 minutes to go…
RED FLAG!
11:43 , Kieran Jackson
Valtteri Bottas is in the wall at Rascasse!
RED FLAG! Session stopped after 12 minutes!
F1 Monaco GP 2024 LIVE – FP3 time!
11:30 , Karl Matchett
We are ready for the third practice session of the weekend – the final one before qualifiying later on today.
Lewis Hamilton has impressed so far in the opening two sessions and will be hoping to continue that this afternoon.
Let’s see how he, Leclerc and all the rest fare in FP3.
How Monaco GP presents a unique F1 challenge – and why Charles Leclerc is desperate to finally triumph at home
11:28 , Karl Matchett
The treacherous twists and turns of the Circuit de Monaco have not been kind to this small principality’s prodigal son. It took until 2022 – after two retirements and one devastating failure to make the start line after qualifying on pole, with a Covid cancellation thrown in the middle – for Charles Leclerc to finish his home grand prix. And even that was ruined by a strategy failure, confining him to fourth after also qualifying on pole.
Two years on, the Ferrari driver is heading into his sixth Monaco Grand Prix having never stood in the royal box overlooking the main straight, with Monaco the only race not to have an official podium for the top-three drivers. There is nowhere Leclerc, currently second in the world championship and trailing Max Verstappen by 48 points after seven races, would rather ignite a title challenge than here. The taste of winning champagne would hit different. You can bet it’d be expensive, too.
Kieran Jackson on Leclerc and Monaco this weekend:
The one driver who wants to win Monaco Grand Prix more than anyone
F1 Monaco GP 2024 LIVE
11:23 , Karl Matchett
Lewis Hamilton raised the prospect of challenging at the sharp end of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix after he finished second in practice.
Hamilton earlier put his Silver Arrows at the top of the order in the first session and later in the day ended up just 0.188 seconds behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Fernando Alonso was third for Aston Martin – nearly half-a-second back and one place ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – with Lando Norris fifth in his McLaren.
Hamilton has not won a race since the penultimate round of the campaign in 2021 in Saudi Arabia, but the seven-time world champion enjoyed a rare strong day in his Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton second in Monaco practice to raise hopes of Mercedes challenge
Constructors’ Championship ahead of Monaco
11:02 , Kieran Jackson
1. Red Bull – 268 points
2. Ferrari – 212 points
3. McLaren – 154 points
4. Mercedes – 79 points
5. Aston Martin – 44 points
6. RB – 20 points
7. Haas – 7 points
8. Alpine – 1 point
9. Williams – 0 points
10. Sauber – 0 points
Toto Wolff confident he can lead struggling Mercedes back to top of Formula One
10:45 , Kieran Jackson
A bullish Toto Wolff insists he remains the right man to lead Mercedes and has backed Lewis Hamilton to land his record eighth world championship at Ferrari.
Hamilton’s Mercedes team arrive for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix following a string of underwhelming results which leaves them a distant fourth in the constructors’ championship.
Hamilton, who is departing the Silver Arrows at the end of the year to join the Scuderia, will gear up for Sunday’s 78-lap race here in the principality only eighth in the standings, with just 35 points on the board, compared to championship leader Max Verstappen’s 161.
Full piece below:
Toto Wolff confident he can lead struggling Mercedes back to top of Formula One
Driver Standings ahead of Monaco:
10:32 , Kieran Jackson
1. Max Verstappen – 161 points
2. Charles Leclerc – 113 points
3. Sergio Perez – 107 points
4. Lando Norris – 101 points
5. Carlos Sainz – 93 points
6. Oscar Piastri – 53 points
7. George Russell – 44 points
8. Lewis Hamilton – 35 points
9. Fernando Alonso – 33 points
10. Yuki Tsunoda – 15 points
11. Lance Stroll – 11 points
12. Oliver Bearman – 6 points
13. Nico Hulkenberg – 6 points
14. Daniel Ricciardo – 5 points
15. Esteban Ocon – 1 point
16. Kevin Magnussen – 1 point
17. Alex Albon – 0 points
18. Zhou Guanyu – 0 points
19. Pierre Gasly – 0 points
20. Valtteri Bottas – 0 points
21. Logan Sargeant – 0 points
Lewis Hamilton second in Monaco practice to raise hopes of Mercedes challenge
10:17 , Kieran Jackson
Lewis Hamilton raised the prospect of challenging at the sharp end of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix after he finished second in practice.
Hamilton earlier put his Silver Arrows at the top of the order in the first session and later in the day ended up just 0.188 seconds behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Fernando Alonso was third for Aston Martin – nearly half-a-second back and one place ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – with Lando Norris fifth in his McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton second in Monaco practice to raise hopes of Mercedes challenge
Monaco GP – Full leaderboard for FP2:
10:02 , Kieran Jackson
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:11.278
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.188
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.475
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.535
Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.675
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.684
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.784
Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.821
Alex Albon (Williams) +0.979
George Russell (Mercedes) +0.982
Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Logan Sargeant (Williams)
Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)
Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)
PREVIEW: How Monaco GP presents a unique F1 challenge – and why Charles Leclerc is desperate to finally triumph at home
09:45 , Kieran Jackson
The treacherous twists and turns of the Circuit de Monaco have not been kind to this small principality’s prodigal son. It took until 2022 – after two retirements and one devastating failure to make the start line after qualifying on pole, with a Covid cancellation thrown in the middle – for Charles Leclerc to finish his home grand prix. And even that was ruined by a strategy failure, confining him to fourth after also qualifying on pole.
Two years on, the Ferrari driver is heading into his sixth Monaco Grand Prix having never stood in the royal box overlooking the main straight, with Monaco the only race not to have an official podium for the top-three drivers. There is nowhere Leclerc, currently second in the world championship and trailing Max Verstappen by 48 points after seven races, would rather ignite a title challenge than here. The taste of winning champagne would hit different. You can bet it’d be expensive, too.
“Second or third is not really something that excites me,” Leclerc said on Thursday. “The win is what we need to target. We’ve seen in the last few races that Red Bull, McLaren and ourselves are pretty close in qualifying and we know how important qualifying is here so we’ll have to put everything together.
“If we are on pole, then that will give us a good chance to get what we want, which is a win.”
Full piece below:
The one driver who wants to win Monaco Grand Prix more than anyone
When is the Monaco Grand Prix?
09:25 , Kieran Jackson
(All times BST)
Saturday 25 May
Free practice 3: 11:30am
Qualifying: 3pm
Sunday 19 May
How can I watch it online and on TV?
The Monaco Grand Prix will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom – and ESPN in the United States. Sky’s coverage of Sunday’s race starts at 12:30pm (BST).
Highlights of qualifying in the UK will be aired on free-to-air Channel 4 at 7:30pm (BST) on Saturday evening; the race highlights are at 6:30pm (BST) on Sunday.
Sky Sports subscribers can watch all the action at Monaco on the Sky Go app. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.
F1 Monaco Grand Prix: Qualifying!
09:21 , Kieran Jackson
Formula 1 returns to one of the most prestigious venues on the calendar as the famous Circuit de Monaco plays host to the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend.
Max Verstappen got back to winning ways last time out in Imola, though the Red Bull driver did have to thwart a late challenge from Lando Norris, who finished less than a second behind.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium and this weekend will compete at his home race where, following years of near-misses, he is yet to secure a top-three finish.
Verstappen won last year’s race in Monaco, setting it up after a pulsating qualifying lap denied Fernando Alonso pole position, while Lewis Hamilton is a three-time winner around the tight twists and turns of the principality.
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