Bottas Brings Chaos to Monaco FP3, Hamilton’s Qualifying Bid in Jeopardy

The final practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix descended into chaos as Valtteri Bottas, driving for Stake, caused a brief red flag after crashing at the Swimming Pool section. The Finn’s mishap saw him clip the outside wall, resulting in significant damage to his front-right suspension. This forced Bottas to come to a halt at Rascasse, temporarily blocking the track and disrupting the session, with Lewis Hamilton among those affected by the incident.

Hamilton, who found himself behind Bottas at Rascasse, managed to navigate past the Sauber and return to the pits.

However, his session took a turn for the worse as he struggled with his tires, leading to a sizable lock-up at Turn One. This forced the British champion to spin around and head back to the track, losing valuable time in the process.

The repercussions of the incident extended beyond Hamilton’s session. With his soft tires potentially compromised, Hamilton faced challenges in regaining lost ground on the time-sheets. Furthermore, his efforts were hindered by the mistakes of other drivers, including Oscar Piastri’s excursion off the track in his McLaren.

Despite slipping down the order as the session progressed, Hamilton mounted a late resurgence by returning to the track on a fresh set of soft tires. This allowed him to make up for lost time and focus on refining his setup ahead of qualifying.

As teams scrambled to recover from the unexpected disruptions, attention turned to qualifying, where the true impact of the FP3 drama would unfold. With Bottas causing havoc and Hamilton battling to regain momentum, anticipation soared for an intense qualifying session on the legendary streets of Monte Carlo.