Monaco: Rosberg quickest in extremely close final practice

Nico Rosberg went fastest in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the GP of Monaco later today. The session was again cut short, this time because Maldonado was a little too violent and caused a red flag 4 minutes from the end. Felipe Massa went second fastest, Sebastian Vettel third.

Rosberg made it three different drivers leading the practice sessions

The sun was prominently present at the circuit during the entire practice session, allowing all drivers to extensively test the soft and supersoft Pirelli tyres.

In the first half of the session it was Romain Grosjean who went fastest as all cars were still running on the harder, yellow striped option tyres. Kimi Räikkönen meanwhile appeared to focus on race simulation, being quite active on the track.

Many drivers meanwhile went straight through the chicane at the end of the tunnel while Lewis Hamilton once missed his braking point at Ste. Devote. He badly flat spotted a set of option tyres but managed to return to the track without problem.

7 minutes from the end, Di Resta breaks his front wing as his rear brakes lock when coming out of the tunnel. He slipped slowly into the inside barriers and was able to return to the track without further damage.

Another three minutes later, Maldonado overshoots it at Casino. He clipped the inside barrier with his front wing and ended up hitting the outside of the turn with the left rear wheel. This immediately broke off the rear suspension, causing the session to be red flagged and not be restarted.