Monaco GP 2016, Practice 3: Sebastian Vettel fastest from Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes just one hundreth of a second behind; Top four covered by less than two tenths; Qualifying underway at 1pm UK Time

By Pete Gill in Monaco

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel set the pace in final practice for the Monaco GP just ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

After struggling on Thursday, Vettel topped the timesheets on Saturday morning with a lap of 1:14.650.

In an action-packed session, the top four were covered by 0.157 seconds with Nico Rosberg third and Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull fourth.

"We have got a tight battle right at the front. There is not a lot in it between Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari," approved Sky F1's Damon Hill.

Hamilton was on course for the fastest time of the session after going quickest in the opening two sectors before encountering traffic at the penultimate corner.

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Spanish GP victor Max Verstappen was a relatively distant fifth after locking his rear tyres and hitting the barriers as he entered Casino Square.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen locks up in P3 in Monaco and clips the wall at Massinet but escapes unscathed.

With McLaren, for whom Fernando Alonso was 12th and Jenson Button 13th, remaining on the periphery, Toro Rosso are emerging as the weekend's surprise package. Once again, both of the team's cars reached the top ten with Daniil Kvyat a place ahead of Carlos Sainz in sixth.

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But Renault's struggles continued. After Jolyon Palmer crashed for the second time this weekend - wrecking a flying lap from Hamilton - through the Swimming Pool complex, his team-mate Kevin Magnussen then also hit the barriers. 

Qualifying takes place at 1pm UK Time.

Practice Three timesheet
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:14.650
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:14.668
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:14.772
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:14.807
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:15.081
6. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:15.259
7. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:15.324
8. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:15.368
9. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:15.555
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:15.666
11. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:16.068
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:16.257
13. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:16.298
14. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:16.347
15. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:16.407
16. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:16.412
17. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:16.527
18. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:16.867
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:17.037
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:17.482
21. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:17.595
22. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:18.180

Watch the Monaco GP live on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up underway at 11.30am. Or watch the race without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV. 

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