Antonelli quickest in final Monaco practice
Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- Kimi Antonelli set the fastest lap of the weekend in final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.
- The 19-year-old Italian leads the championship by 43 points after winning the last four races.
- Qualifying is set to be a close battle between Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull drivers.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli posted the quickest time in the third practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, clocking the fastest lap of the weekend on Saturday. The 19-year-old Italian driver recorded a 1 minute 12.720 around the challenging street circuit in his Mercedes.
Antonelli's performance edged out Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who had dominated the previous two practice sessions. The young Italian currently leads the championship standings by a significant 43 points over his British teammate George Russell, having secured victories in the last four consecutive races. Leclerc finished 0.327 seconds behind Antonelli's best lap, with Hamilton just a fraction slower.
Qualifying is scheduled to take place later on Saturday, with grid position being critically important on the unforgiving Monaco circuit, where overtaking is notoriously difficult. The battle for pole position is expected to be a tight contest primarily between the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was fifth fastest in the final practice session on Friday.
The session was briefly interrupted when TGR Haas driver Oliver Bearman lost control at Massenet corner, impacting the barriers and causing substantial damage to his rear wing. Reigning world champion Lando Norris also managed to get some track time after his McLaren experienced an electrical failure in Friday's second session. McLaren stated they would face no action for the repair work, as it was their first of four allowed individual curfew exceptions for the season.
I just totally lost it on the bump ... so sorry.
Originally published by CNA. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.