There was hugely contrasting fortunes for the two Ferrari drivers, with Leclerc completing a practice sweep in the third and final session.

He did face some competition from Max Verstappen, who was rapid on the medium Pirellis with a 1m11.233s midway through the session.

Leclerc was then able to move back head with three minutes to go with a 1m110.953s on the soft tyres.

That proved to the final change at the top, with the session red flagged 90 seconds later when Hamilton hit the wall at Massenet.

The seven-time world champion appeared to be spooked by slower cars ahead as he slapped the barriers before coming to a rest.

Once stopped the session wasn’t restarted.

That left Verstappen in second fastest ahead of McLaren paid Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Hamilton was left fifth fastest after his crash from Alex Albon and an impressive hit-out from Liam Lawson.

Carlos Sainz was eighth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Kimi Antonelli, who finished one spot clear of Mercedes teammate George Russell.

The next on-track session is qualifying, scheduled for 4pm local time (12am AEST).