Tension rises dramatically ahead of one of the most important qualifying sessions of the year. The premises leave no great doubts about the favourite: free practice gives Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari all the favourite, given what has been shown on the track so far. The Ferrari proved to be complete and fast, precise, even more reactive than yesterday and with a high level of grip. Particularly in the hands of Leclerc, who from what we saw both in Imola and in this first phase of the weekend in Monaco seems to be in full control, and to make the best use of his driving style.
RedBull climbs gradually by engine
We saw how conservative the RedBull team was on the Power Unit front in the first two sessions, an aspect that also seemed to show itself in the third session, but only initially, as with the passing of the minutes and laps we noticed an ever greater increase in usage of the power on the RB20, so much so that in the last lap (later aborted due to traffic) Verstappen had a top speed of 290, even higher than that of the Ferrari and was going strong especially in the first sector, with the climb of the Saint Devote in which the power it is clearly one of the fundamental parameters for the chronometer.
However, for now, the difference between the two single-seaters does not seem to be just the engine. The two tenths that divide Leclerc and Verstappen in the standings are not entirely true, considering that Leclerc recorded his best lap 11 minutes before Verstappen, on a track whose evolution is notoriously enormous, especially in the last minutes of the session with all the cars on the track, a difference which is minimal on the tyres, considering that after the first 2 laps launched, the degradation curve is practically flat. Furthermore, Leclerc made a mistake at Rascasse, further confirming that the margin over Verstappen and the group should be even greater. Let’s see the data of the third free races to go into more detail.
Saint Devote and Massenet are the first points where the difference is made
Already at the first corner you can see a good insertion of the front for Hamilton’s Mercedes and good control by Leclerc, against a certain difficulty in turning the front end for Verstappen and Piastri, and then arriving at the Massenet curve where he loses a lot of road Mercedes and, surprisingly, also McLaren. It seems that the Woking team is trying to find a more favorable set-up in the very slow sections, but is unable to identify a good balance, ending up sacrificing even the most important sections from an aerodynamic point of view. On the descent towards Mirabeau Leclerc doesn’t seem to push hard and Verstappen and Hamilton even take the lead over the Monegasque. The slow section however, especially the former Loews hairpin and the Portier curves are decidedly in favor of Ferrari, with Leclerc entering the tunnel again ahead of the competition, showing that beyond the power, the mechanics of the SF24 in slow sections and on curbs it works particularly well.
At the port chicane Leclerc doesn’t shine in braking, a bit surprisingly, but the reactivity in changing direction is something remarkable, also significantly improved compared to yesterday, a sign of some set-up improvements that have evidently worked. The tobacconist curve, on the other hand, is Verstappen’s territory in terms of speed (fast curve where aerodynamics and lateral stiffness help a lot), although there is little chronometric gain, while in the last sector Leclerc and the Dutchman enter very strongly in the first of the pools, but only Leclerc is particularly effective in the second. At Rascasse, as anticipated, the Monegasque then makes a mistake on entry, which costs just over 1 tenth of the total time, and then recovers at Noghes and extends his lead again at the finish line, thanks again to the high level of grip, which allows the car to “splash” forward during traction, with the rear literally glued to the ground.
Leclerc is the clear favourite, but there are no certainties in Monte Carlo
After these three free practice sessions it would be impossible not to consider Leclerc as favorite for pole position. The Monegasque entered qualifying in ideal conditions, with the car responding perfectly, and his opponents not perfect in many respects. But the uncertainties of the streets of the Principality are too many to talk about certainties. Increasing grip with the more rubberized track could help Red Bull and Verstappen’s miracles, like the one seen last year, cannot be ruled out a priori. The session will be one of high tension, as we often saw in Monaco, and all that remains is to enjoy one of the moments of highest concentration and difficulty of the entire season.
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