Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Formula 1

Daniel Ricciardo looks favourite for pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix after heading final practice following a crash by his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman had been fastest until he hit the inside wall on the entry to the second Swimming Pool chicane, broke his front suspension and was catapulted over the kerbs and into the wall on the exit.

The session was stopped for five minutes while the barrier was repaired and the circuit cleared and in the remaining four minutes Ricciardo leapt to the top of the times, beating Verstappen by 0.001 seconds.

The front and rear suspension of Verstappen’s car was badly damaged but Red Bull will be expected to get his car repaired in time for the start of qualifying at 14:00 BST.

But the incident, which was a carbon-copy of a crash Verstappen had in qualifying in Monaco in 2016, may affect the 20-year-old's confidence at a track where so far Red Bull have dominated.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third fastest, 0.237 seconds behind Ricciardo, with his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fourth.

Mercedes look to be struggling, as they expected they would be in Monaco. Lewis Hamilton was fifth fastest but 0.487secs off the pace.

The Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley were a surprise as best of the rest in seventh and eighth fastest ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Renault and Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin.

The fastest McLaren was Stoffel Vandoorne in 11th, while team-mate Fernando Alonso was down in 15th, unhappy with the behaviour of his car.

Image source, Getty Images

After the two Red Bulls come the two Ferraris with Sebastian Vettel third and Kimi Raikkonen fourth. The Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are fifth and sixth of respectively but that Verstappen prang will have raised their hopes of getting on the front row.

Brendon Hartley (seventh), Pierre Gasly (eighth), Carlos Sainz (ninth) and Sergey Sirotkin (10th) make up the rest of the top 10.

Image source, F1

Three practice sessions and Daniel Ricciardo has been the quickest man in all of them.

He bumps out Max Verstappen, who had a disastrous end of the session, after a massive smash into the wall. We wait to see if his mechanics can get him back in the game for qualifying. They have less than two hours.

Image source, Getty Images

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live

There you go, Ricciardo has just pinched this session from under Verstappen's nose.

That adds insult to injury...

It's Ricciardo's to lose in qualifying now, surely.

Jacqui Baker-Stubbs‏: That’s a lot of work for Red Bull in a very short time to get Max Verstappen back on track for #Quali, external

Rachel T: I am old enough to be Max's mother, so I can get away with saying he SHOULD KNOW BETTER.

Jennifer Harris‏: Max Verstappen timed that well, didn't he? Wants to ensure he ends the session ahead of @danielricciardo., external Silly boy.

And Ricciardo goes fastest. By the smallest margin possible, one thousandth of a second.

Image source, Getty Images

They've cleared Verstappen's accident very quickly.

We have two minutes left in the session and a few are back out there, including Daniel Ricciardo. Red Bull will be praying nothing happens to him after that Verstappen smash.

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live

Disaster, absolute disaster for Verstappen. He's going to end this session top in a car that looks dominant.

They should be able to get that repaired for qualifying because damage to the front of the car is easier to repair than the rear.

But [it's a blow] to his confidence.

The Red Bull is being covered and what looked a great weekend for them has very much turned sour.

It has been a Red Bull one-two in both sessions on Thursday and it will be another one, on paper at least, today.

But that smash could well see the Dutchman start on the back row tomorrow.

Red flagpublished at 11:52 British Summer Time 26 May 2018

11:52 BST 26 May 2018

Seven minutes left and the clock is still running. There'll be no more action in this session after that accident.

Max Verstappen is fastest, but has just made an absolute mess of his Red Bull. It is a heavy, heavy crash. He is out of the car and OK.

But has he just thrown away any chance of a pole position? Qualifying is only in a couple of hours' time.

It is in the Swimming Pool section, he clips a barrier and that sends him straight into the opposite wall.

Carlos Sainz had been close by, so Verstappen may say he was impeded but that looks a big, big mistake from the Dutchman.

Star of the day so far could well be Brendon Hartley. He lives in Monaco and is using that local knowledge well as he is seventh in the "best of the rest" spot. Only one point this season so he could do with a lot more this season.

‏, externalMiranda Lane: Can't believe there's empty seats at #MonacoGP, external@F1, external Such a waste.....as said by #bbcf1, external Hopefully they full tomorrow.

Keep your pictures and thoughts coming in, via #bbcf1

1. Verstappen
2. Ricciardo
3. Vettel
4. Raikkonen
5. Hamilton
6. Bottas
7. Hartley
8. Sirotkin
9. Vandoorne
10. Ocon

A bit better from Valtteri Bottas who is now up to sixth, but the slowest of the big six. His practice sessions performance so far - seventh, sixth and now sixth again. Mercedes will be wanting more than that.

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These are the times so far. There will be some head-scratching in the Mercedes garages right about now. Twenty minutes to go.

Image source, F1

The hillside viewing spot at Le Rocher looks busy in the sunshine today...

Image source, .

Euan‏: Unpopular opinion: I don't think Leclerc should be at Ferrari next season no matter what happens with Kimi. I think he could be a great asset in the future but heaping that kind of pressure on a youngster too soon has broken many in the past. I'd like to see Ricciardo and Bottas at Mercedes. Hamilton's wages are extortionate and two good drivers are better than discord in the team. Ricciardo deserves a top drive and it is too soon for Ocon.

Craig: ‘19 teams; Mercedes: Hamilton and Bottas. Bottas is only 37 points behind with a DNF & consistent, good for the team. Ferrari always keep Vettel as number so I imagine he has a say. Red Bull, I'm going Sainz & Verstappen, they’ve built the team around Verstappen but Sainz definite talent and still part of RBR.

A heart-stopping moment for Carlos Sainz. All wheels lock up, he skids a bit and then just avoids ploughing into a wall. Luckily, he avoids any contact but his tyres will have taken some damage.

Sergey Sirotkin, who like Romain Grosjean has zero points, is 10th, but a good day so far for Brendon Hartley as he is seventh, with Nico Hulkenberg sixth.

Image source, Getty Images