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Monaco GP Practice Three: Sebastian Vettel crashes, Charles Leclerc outpaces Mercedes

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Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel crashes out of final practice ahead of the Monaco GP.

Sebastian Vettel crashed but Charles Leclerc set a surprise pace for Ferrari as Mercedes were unexpectedly dislodged from the top of the Monaco GP timesheet in Practice Three.

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Mercedes dominated Thursday but the resumption of action on Saturday morning saw the local boy, Leclerc, outpace Valtteri Bottas by just under a tenth and Lewis Hamilton by 0.3s

"Who'd have thought we'd see Leclerc top of P3 after all the Thursday domination by Mercedes? So it gives everyone hope that it could be a closer fight than we all expected," said Sky F1's Anthony Davidson.

Max Verstappen was close behind for Red Bull, but Mercedes lapped slower than they managed on Thursday, suspiciously pointing to more speed being in hand for when it matters in qualifying.

"It's nice to see Ferrari are in the battle, and it's nice to see Verstappen in the mix as well," said Paul di Resta. "If Mercedes don't get it right, these guys are breathing right down their necks."

Leclerc was later reprimanded by stewards for failing to slow to the prescribed time under the Virtual Safety Car initiated for Vettel's crash.

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What happened to Vettel?
Sebastian Vettel is firmly on the back foot heading in to qualifying at 2pm BST live on Sky Sports F1 after going nose-first into the wall at Ste Devote.

A front-right brake lock-up sent Vettel straight on at Monaco's famous first turn, sending the German into the tyre barrier and breaking his Ferrari's front wing and suspension.

Vettel missed the remainder of P3 as a result with only seven laps completed. His broken car was not returned until the Ferrari garage until after the session, meaning the team have under two hours to get it fixed for Q1.

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Giovinazzi heads packed midfield
While the fight at the front is perhaps not quite as clear cut as it seemed, the battle for positions in the midfield looks set to be especially fierce in qualifying.

Alfa Romeo, Toro Rosso, Haas and Renault all appear to be vying for the final Q3 positions, with Antonio Giovinazzi finishing sixth in P3 just ahead of Daniil Kvyat.

Three tenths of a second covered the four teams, with McLaren and particularly Racing Point appearing set to miss out on the top 10 on the evidence of practice.

Monaco GP Practice Three Timesheet

Driver Team Time
1) Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.265
2) Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +0.053
3) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.213
4) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.274
5) Pierre Gasly Red Bull +0.473
6) Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +0.905
7) Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +0.929
8) Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.005
9) Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +1.043
10) Alexander Albon Toro Rosso +1.073
11) Nico Hulkenberg Renault +1.224
12) Daniel Ricciardo Renault +1.254
13) Romain Grosjean Haas +1.301
14) Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +1.318
15) Carlos Sainz McLaren +1.597
16) Lando Norris McLaren +1.649
17) Sergio Perez Racing Point +1.967
18) Lance Stroll Racing Point +2.357
19) Robert Kubica Williams +2.821
20) George Russell Williams +3.040

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