Ricciardo sets lap record in FP3 as Verstappen crashes
Daniel Ricciardo set a new Formula 1 lap record around Monaco in final free practice as Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen crashes late into the session.
The Australian, who was also fastest in both free practice sessions on Thursday, went 0.001 seconds quicker than Verstappen in the final minutes of the session on the hypersoft to take the overall lap record.
Ricciardo improved on his second sector time during his final lap after the chequered flag, but wasn’t able to improve after losing some time in the final sector.
Verstappen made his way to the top of the timesheets half-way through the session, but with 10 minutes to go crashed coming out of Turn 14 after hitting the inside barrier when entering the chicane.
Ferrari was the closest competitors in terms of lap times to the Red Bull pair, with Sebastian Vettel going 0.237s slower than Ricciardo. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was over one-tenth of a second further back.
Behind them, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas found themselves fifth and sixth respectively.
Brendon Hartley was the best of the rest for Toro Rosso in seventh with a 0.394s gap between him and Bottas, while his team-mate Pierre Gasly was the only other driver within a second of Ricciardo’s fastest lap in eighth place overall.
Carlos Sainz, who during the session locked up and went down the escape road going into Turn 1, was ninth fastest for Renault.
Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin rounded off the top 10 for final practice just 0.004s behind Sainz.