Kimi Antonelli ended Ferrari’s hold on the top of Monaco final practice on Friday, turning in the fastest lap of the session for Mercedes and pushing Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton back into second and third. Antonelli’s 1m 12.720s on soft tyres was more than three tenths clear of Leclerc, and it came just as Ferrari’s early promise faded in the closing minutes.
That matters now because final practice at Monaco is the last real chance to sort the car before qualifying on a circuit where a clean lap can decide the weekend. Ferrari had opened the session strongly, with Leclerc setting the first meaningful benchmark at 1m 15.184s before Hamilton went quicker and broke into the 1m 14s bracket, beating his team-mate by seven tenths at one stage. Antonelli then returned to the top of the timesheets and left the pair behind when it counted most.
The session was already carrying a nervous edge before the final times began to fall. Lando Norris had forced McLaren into extensive work after grounding to a halt in Friday’s FP2, prompting the team to break curfew and replace the wiring harness and ESME pack within the permitted allocation. Final practice then brought more drama, starting with Valtteri Bottas reporting smoke from his brakes before Franco Colapinto spun at the hairpin and clipped the barrier with the rear of his Alpine.
Ferrari’s setback came in the form of Leclerc’s brakes, which denied him the chance to improve late on and opened the door for Antonelli to seize control of the sheet. Hamilton had already shown enough pace to threaten the front row fight, but the team’s early momentum did not survive the full hour. Ollie Bearman then brought out the red flag after a massive slide at Massenet sent his Haas into the wall and scattered debris across the circuit, ending the session with one more interruption that no one in the paddock needed before qualifying.
Antonelli’s lap does not settle anything for Saturday, but it changes the mood around the garage. Ferrari still has the speed to fight, and Hamilton has already shown he can find time quickly on this track, yet Monaco rewards the driver who delivers once and avoids mistakes. After a final practice like this, qualifying looks less like a formality and more like the first real test of who can keep their nerve when the walls start closing in.
