Free 3: Nico Rosberg quickest in hectic final practice

The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg has ended the final practice session for this weekends Monaco Grand Prix ahead of the improved Ferrari of Felipe Massa and reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel. After Thursday’s rain, the teams and drivers had lots of catching up to do, in preparation for this afternoons qualifying session.

As the session got underway, the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne was first out on track as the majority of the drivers completed their installation laps. It was Kimi Raikkonen who set the early pace, after missing out the entire first practice session on Thursday. The Finn set a 01:21.162, before 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher went faster with a 01:20.473.

Raikkonen’s team-mate and reigning GP2 Champion, Romain Grosjean, then joined the two former World Champions’, as the times slowly began to get quicker. Grosjean finally set a 01:16.812 as further drivers’ took to the track, whilst Michael Schumacher returned to the pits after reporting a problem with the rear of his car.

As Romain Grosjean continued to improve out on track, Kamui Kobayashi made a slight mistake heading into the Mirabeau hairpin. However, with no damage sustained to the Sauber, the Japanese driver was luckily able to continue. Grosjean then set a 01:15.811, as the Frenchman’s confidence visibly grew greater as the session wore on. The other Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen was one of the first drivers of the session on the super-soft Pirelli tyres, as drivers began to prepare for qualifying.

The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg then went fastest, as several other drivers opted for the super-soft tyres. The German set a 01:15.751, before capitalizing on that lap with a further 01:15.159. As the Mercedes flew atop the timing sheets, the Ferrari of Felipe Massa began showing his worth to the Italian outfit with some highly committed driving around the streets of the Principality. After a difficult start to the 2012 season, the Brazilian drivers future with Ferrari has been in serious doubt lately. However, if Massa can continue his run of form throughout qualifying and into the race, his critics may be silenced.

In traditional Monaco style, the final minutes of the practice session was mayhem, as firstly Nico Hulkenberg blocked Sergio Perez through the final corner, as the German driver slowed on the racing line to try and set himself up for a qualifying-style run. Then Hulkenberg’s team-mate Paul di Resta spun whilst exiting the tunnel and collided with the barrier, lightly damaging his front wing.

Sergio Perez’s session then got worse, as the Mexican was subject to some rather questionable driving from Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan driver, who won last time out in Spain, simply drove into the side of Perez in what can only be described as an act of malice against his former GP2 rival. The stewards will undoubtedly have long and hard look at the incident. However, Maldonado’s session ended in the armco, as the Williams driver clipped the barrier on the apex of turn 4, which then resulted in a heavier incident with the retaining barrier. The Williams mechanics will now have a busy few hours, as they try and fix the Williams in preparation for qualifying.

With the mayhem ensuing on track, Nico Rosberg remained fastest as the session ended under red flag conditions due to Maldonado’s incident. This is the second session of the weekend to end under a red flag, as the teams and drivers now prepare for the most important qualifying session of the year.

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