Everything that happened in final Monaco GP practice

Kimi Antonelli topped the final Formula 1 free practice session ahead of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, a session interrupted by a red flag caused by Ollie Bearman crashing with just under 15 minutes remaining.

Bearman backed his Haas into the wall after turning into the Massenet left-hander from a little wider than he normally would in as a result of passing the Mercedes of George Russell, who was on a slow lap but off line.

Bearman sustained damage to the back of the car, apologising over the radio and blaming the car floor hitting the ground, saying “it’s the bottoming” over the radio.

This caused a stoppage of around 11 minutes because of the need to inspect the barrier, meaning everyone had their qualifying simulations on their final set of tyres disrupted to a greater or lesser extent.

The session resumed with four minutes remaining, but only five drivers improved their laptimes - and none of those to a position higher than Carlos Sainz, who jumped to 12th. This was down to a combination of a crowded track and the yellow flag caused by Alex Albon taking to the Ste Devote escape road.Antonelli, who had posted his lap shortly before the red flag, therefore stayed on top with a margin of 0.327s over Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton a further 0.004s behind.

However, both Ferrari drivers weren't able to produce what should have been their best pace at the start of their qualifying simulation runs after both hitting traffic on their first attempted push lap.

Neither could improve after the restart, with Leclerc continuing to complain that “the car is doing something different every time I go on the brakes”.

However, while both Ferrari drivers could have been quicker, it’s important to note that Antonelli had also outpaced them on the first sets of tyres as Mercedes appeared to have taken a step forward after being off the pace on Friday.

Russell, who also had to rely on the time set on his first set of softs, was fourth and three-quarters of a second down. That put him around two-tenths ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, who both improved their times before the red flag. 

Audi continued to lead the way in the midfield battle, with Gabriel Bortoleto seventh and four places ahead of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.

In between them were Isack Hadjar, still playing catch-up after his FP1 shunt, and Lando Norris, who was making up for lost time after completing just eight laps in FP2 before an electrical problem that led to McLaren breaking the curfew. 

Esteban Ocon was 11th ahead of Sainz, with Pierre Gasly having the better session of the two Alpine drivers in 12th given Franco Colapinto backed his Alpine into the barrier at the hairpin just after the halfway mark of the session and suffered rear wing damage, ending up 19th despite improving after the late restart.

Liam Lawson was 15th fastest after having spectacular moments in both Swimming Pool chicanes during the session that he did well to get under control, while Sergio Perez was the best-placed Cadillac in 18th after both he and team-mate Valtteri Bottas hit brake overheating problems early on. Both Cadillac drivers improved after the red flag, taking advantage of their position in the pitlane to get out early.

At the back, Aston Martin's troubled weekend continued with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll bringing up the rear.

Results

1 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1m12.720s
2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.327s
3 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.331s
4 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.763s
5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.942s
6 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.978s
7 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.100s
8 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +1.157s
9 Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.286s
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.330s
11 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.558s
12 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1.616s
13 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.760s
14 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.767s
15 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.867s
16 Alex Albon (Williams) +2.081s
17 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +2.198s
18 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +2.225s
19 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.459s
20 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +2.731s
21 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +2.847s
22 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +3.201s