Red Bull complete hattrick but Verstappen crashes! FP3 summary and results

Red Bull have completed their practice hattrick in FP3, as the Bulls have now won all three practice sessions in Monaco, but the session was cut short due to a Max Verstappen crash.

The session started with the Ferrari's setting the pace, with Vettel and Raikkonen keeping the rest of the field behind them. The Mercedes cars followed, with the Red Bull cars taking twenty minutes to even log a time. Hamilton briefly took the lead, but was nudged back into second by Sebastian Vettel.

Then, the Red Bulls came out. It immediately became apparent that they were going to be the team to beat, as Daniel Ricciardo's first registered lap time immediately saw him climb into first. Max Verstappen took it from him, and the two kept improving on each other's times for the next ten minutes or so, up until the half-hour mark.

Verstappen eventually set the track record, a record that had only been set on Thursday by Daniel Ricciardo before the youngster broke it. The Dutchman posted a rapid 1:11.787, a time that was never really challenged for the rest of the session. Only his teammate was able to also get under 1:12.

Verstappen was on his last run in the final eight minutes, when disaster struck. He had to take evasive action on a hot lap to overtake Carlos Sainz, and then hit the railing when steering into a chicane. He lost control of the car, bounced over the curbstone, and smashed into the wall. That's how unforgiving Monaco is, there's just no room for error. 

When Verstappen's car was cleared off the track, there were three minutes left in the session. The only thing that happened then was Daniel Ricciardo beating Verstappen's fastest lap by 0.001s, completing the hattrick for the Aussie.

Another one-two then for Red Bull, but it will taste bittersweet because of that silly mistake from Max Verstappen, who once again looked for the limit and went over it. Now the question will be whether the Red Bull mechanics can fix his RB14 in time for qualifying.

To be continued!

FP3 CLASSIFICATION (60/60 MINS): A @redbullracing one-two, but... #MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/XfuURhxc9G

— Formula 1 (@F1) 26 May 2018