Damon Hill thinks 48-point F1 driver caught Lewis Hamilton by ‘surprise’ at the Monaco Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has dealt Ferrari a hasty repair job to complete in time for qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix after the Briton crashed in the final three minutes of FP3.

The 40-year-old flicked his SF-25 into the outside barrier at Massenet amid a late qualifying simulation run. His incident brought out the red flag and Hamilton finished FP3 for the 2025 Monaco GP in fifth place with a 0.563-second gap to Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in P1.

The Scuderia did not expect to challenge for pole position for the Monaco GP given Ferrari’s 2025 F1 car struggles in slow-speed corners. Yet Leclerc has set the pace in practice in FP1, FP2 and FP3 with the fastest lap times as the Monegasque eyes back-to-back wins at home.

Hamilton only set the ninth-fastest lap time in FP1, as Leclerc led the way with his 1:11.964. But the seven-time F1 champion improved to third in FP2, as Hamilton trimmed his 0.726s deficit to just 0.105s. Yet his crash in FP3 prevented the Briton from bridging his 0.563s gap.

Lewis Hamilton crashed in FP3 for the Monaco GP after Andrea Kimi Antonelli caught him by ‘surprise’

Damon Hill does not believe Hamilton was at fault for his crash in the closing stages of FP3 for the Monaco GP on Saturday. Instead, the Briton was caught by ‘surprise’ as he only saw Mercedes ace Andrea Kimi Antonelli very late at Massenet and had to take avoiding action.

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Hamilton slid into the outside barrier at Massenet as the Ferrari star had to quickly turn to the right after seeing the gearbox of Antonelli’s Mercedes further around the corner at the last second. Antonelli was crawling as he was tucked up behind the Haas of Esteban Ocon.

Hill told BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2: “What people can’t see is he’s come up over a crest. It wasn’t his fault. Literally, he came over the crest and he came upon two cars again, like he did yesterday, only these cars were further around the corner.

“And he had to take avoiding action. He’s basically lost it because of the surprise of seeing these cars go slowly in front of him when he’s on a hot lap.”

Lewis Hamilton adds to Ferrari’s repair bill after Charles Leclerc’s FP1 crash with Lance Stroll

Neither Ocon nor Antonelli was on a flying lap, but Hamilton caught them up in a dangerous place. His contact with the barrier tore the tyre carcass off the Stevenage native’s front-right wheel, punctured his rear-right tyre and even broke the front-right suspension on his SF-25.

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Ferrari now have a brief window to repair Hamilton’s car ahead of qualifying for the Monaco GP starting at 16:00 local time (15:00 in the UK). Mercedes and Haas also faced a brief panic but the stewards soon decided not to investigate Antonelli and Ocon for their involvements.

Hamilton’s incident in FP3 even adds to the Scuderia’s repair bill after Leclerc ran into Lance Stroll in FP1 for the Monaco GP. The stewards gave the Aston Martin driver a one-place grid penalty for causing the collision after pulling into the Monegasque’s path before the hairpin.

This weekend’s Monaco GP is Hamilton’s first with Ferrari and Antonelli’s first after replacing the Briton at Mercedes to debut during the 2025 F1 season. Hamilton is sixth in the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship with 53 points from seven rounds, while Antonelli is seventh with 48.