Ferrari and Vettel still on top in final free practice

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Sebastian Vettel remained comfortably at the top of the timesheet in Saturday's final free practice before this afternoon's qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Vettel lowered the Principality's unofficial lap record again with a 1m12.395s lap, leaving team mate Kimi Raokkonen 0.345s in his wake.

Mercedes kicked off the session in catch-up mode after a botched FP2 on Thursday but both Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton remained at a fair distance from their Ferrari counterparts.

The Mercedes drivers sandwiched Red Bull's Max Verstappen in P5 while Daniel Ricciardo was sixth but encountered a brake-by-wire issue in the closing stages of the session.

Toro Rosso's junior bulls Carlos Sainz and Dany Kvyat kept up the momentum, and will be a force to be reckoned with in qualifying.

It was a different story at Force India however with Esteban Ocon clipping the barrier at the Swimming Pool complex and breaking the steering arm of his VJM10.

The Force India crew has its work cut out for itself to repair Ocon's car in time for qualifying.

Free Practice 3 results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:12.395s		23
2	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:12.740s	+ 0.345s	26
3	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:12.830s	+ 0.435s	29
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:12.940s	+ 0.545s	27
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:13.230s	+ 0.835s	27
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:13.392s	+ 0.997s	24
7	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:13.400s	+ 1.005s	27
8	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:13.563s	+ 1.168s	23
9	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:13.596s	+ 1.201s	21
10	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:13.805s	+ 1.410s	21
11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:13.936s	+ 1.541s	23
12	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:13.976s	+ 1.581s	26
13	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:14.072s	+ 1.677s	21
14	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:14.072s	+ 1.677s	28
15	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:14.283s	+ 1.888s	24
16	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:14.547s	+ 2.152s	23
17	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:14.675s	+ 2.280s	35
18	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:15.164s	+ 2.769s	25
19	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	1:15.291s	+ 2.896s	29
20	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:15.863s	+ 3.468s	26

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.