With less than three minutes to go, Leclerc dropped Perez to second place, but the Mexican responded in dying seconds to reach the top with a lap of 1m12.476s, 0.041s faster than Leclerc.
Williams Latifi and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso set the first lap times in the third and final Formula One training session on the principality’s sunny streets.
They were soon joined by McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo, who tried to make the most of FP3 after missing most of Friday’s FP2 due to a slip in the swimming pool on his first lap.
But all eyes were on the pre-race favorite Leclerc, who joined the track after eight minutes of soft and took the lead from teammate Carlos Sainz with an effort of 1m14.008s.
The first laps of Red Bull were four tenths lower than their opponent’s title, Max Verstappen briefly finished third ahead of Perez, and Alonso was injured fifth.
Leclerc’s second effort was much faster, reducing the benchmark to 1m13.647s. This began a cycle of trade strikes by Ferrari and Red Bull on Pirelli’s softest joint, as the evolution of the track continued to shorten times, with Perez and Leclerc even setting an identical time of 1m13.297s.
By the 30th minute, Leclerc was again at the top with 1m12.885s, two tenths of his best time since FP2.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75
Photo: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
McLaren’s Lando Norris, meanwhile, briefly regained his best fifth-place finish all Friday, only to lose to Pierre Gasley of AlphaTauri halfway through.
Mercedes struggled for speed in the beginning, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton lost in seventh and 10th place respectively, while Hamilton seemed puzzled by the difference of 1.2 seconds he faced.
Sainz continued straight into Ste Devote as he tried to level Sainz around Monegasque’s home track, something that happened to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
During a lull in the middle of the session with just over 20 minutes to go, Norris found a clear path to third place, soon to be defeated again by Gasley, suggesting that the best teams still have time to tour. the last third.
They did it right, with Leclerc and Perez swapping first positions until Perez finally secured the lead in the checkered flag session.
Sainz was third over three-tenths behind Perez and half-tenth over Verstappen, who had seen one of his pushing laps ruined by traffic.
Gasley continued to hold Norris in fifth place, with Hamilton finally finding some pace to go seventh, though still with nine-tenths of the leaders.
Kevin Magnussen was a strong eighth in Haas, who has not yet received a significant improvement.
Russell and Alonso finished in the top 10, followed by Yuki Tsunoda, the second Haas of Mick Schumacher and Vettel.
George Russell, Mercedes W13
Photo: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Valteri Botas continued the difficult weekend for Alfa Romeo in 14th place, just ahead of Alex Albon in the first of Williams’ cars.
Ricciardo managed to take only 16th place after losing time on the track, and Esteban Okon from Alpine remained 17th after a difficult session.
Stroll was 18th for Aston Martin, while Zhou Guanyu and Latifi kept the charts in 19th and 20th place, respectively.
Traffic continued to be a problem as Verstappen was obstructed by Zhou, who will be investigated by FIA stewards, and Vettel was angry about a close call with Sainz, while Sainz was called to the stewards for a separate incident with Stroll.
There was also an incident between Perez and Russell, for which the Mexican was called by the stewards.
Vettel’s teammate Stroll hit the exit wall of the pool after taking too much of a curb, damaging his front wing in an otherwise clean session.
Monaco F1 Grand Prix – FP3 results
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