The third free practice session was run in Monaco. Max Verstappen was fastest, followed by teammate Sergio Perez and Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll. Due to an unfortunate virtual safety car and a red flag, Nyck de Vries finished last.

This Saturday's first yellow flag came in the name of Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman parked his Alpine in the Monegasque tunnel with technical problems. Moments later, the driver was still able to continue his way towards the pit lane. Sergio Perez came onto the track early on to do his laps on softs. The Mexican quickly bumped up to first place, but moments later saw teammate Max Verstappen, on his first lap, dip just under sixteenths below his time. It was the start of a nice joust between the Red Bull drivers, fighting for the fastest lap.

Red Bull strong, De Vries in battle

During the qualifying runs, the Ferrari and Aston Martin drivers seemed to connect with the two Bulls, who seemed supreme in the first half-hour. Nyck de Vries was a tenth faster than teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the first half-hour, but had a very difficult time during the qualifying run. The Dutchman had a lot of trouble getting his AlpaTauri through sector 1.

Hamilton crashes

With more than nine minutes left on the clock, the virtual safety car of the day fell. After earlier making an exit at Turn 1, Kevin Magnussen parked his car in the middle of the track. The Dane had"no power". De Vries, who was just improving, saw his fast lap go down the drain. Three minutes later, the green flag waved.

A minute later, things went wrong for Lewis Hamilton. The Briton, driving a renewed Mercedes this weekend, hit the wall in turn seven with his car. The seven-time world champion in all likelihood damaged his suspension and front wing. It meant a red flag in the Principality, preventing the session from resuming.

Qualifying in Monaco starts at 4pm. It can be followed via GPblog's liveblog .