Lewis Hamilton endured a dramatic setback during the final practice session for the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix, crashing his Ferrari at the iconic Casino Square section of the Monte Carlo street circuit. The incident occurred late in the session when Hamilton, cresting the hill near the Mirabeau corner, encountered two slow-moving cars ahead. In a split-second decision, he swerved to avoid them, losing control and hitting the barriers. The impact damaged his front-right suspension and brought out a red flag, halting the session temporarily.
Despite the crash, Hamilton had posted the fifth-fastest lap of the session, suggesting he had strong pace heading into qualifying. The incident, however, left Ferrari’s mechanics scrambling to repair the car in time for the all-important qualifying session later in the day. With Monaco’s tight and twisty layout making overtaking notoriously difficult, a strong qualifying result is crucial, and any setback could significantly hinder race day prospects.
Meanwhile, Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc thrilled the home crowd by topping the timesheets once again, continuing his dominance across all three practice sessions. Leclerc set the fastest lap of final practice with a time of 1:10.953, solidifying his status as the favorite heading into qualifying. His performance sparked hope among Ferrari fans that the Monegasque driver could finally claim a long-awaited victory at his home Grand Prix, a race that has historically eluded him due to misfortune and team errors.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, always a formidable contender, finished the session in second place, closely shadowing Leclerc.
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri impressed once more by rounding out the top four, continuing their recent trend of strong form. The competitive gap between the front-running teams suggests that qualifying will be a tightly contested battle.
With qualifying scheduled for 4:00 PM local time (3:00 PM UK time), all eyes will be on how Hamilton recovers from the crash and whether Ferrari can get his car ready in time. For Leclerc, the focus will be on converting his practice pace into a pole position on a track where starting at the front is often key to winning. The stage is set for a thrilling qualifying session in Monaco.