WATCH: Hamilton slams into the wall to bring FP3 to an early end in Monaco

Just as it was beginning to look like Ferrari had cut the gap down to their rivals, Lewis Hamilton found the wall in the dying minutes of final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, giving the team plenty to do ahead of Qualifying.

Soon after his team mate Charles Leclerc had set the quickest lap of the weekend, Hamilton started to improve his sector times, but had to back out of the laps due to traffic.

FP3: Leclerc completes Monaco practice clean sweep as Ferrari team mate Hamilton brings out red flags

Setting off on another flying lap to round out the session, the seven-time World Champion crashed into the outside wall at Turn 3, also known as Massenet, with the majority of the right hand side of his Ferrari making contact. The front right tyre came off the rim to roll across the track and he was forced to pull up and wait for his car to be recovered.

Further replays demonstrated that Hamilton's immediate concern after climbing out of the car uninjured was the right rear of the SF-25, which is where the gearbox is located – any damage to this component will complicate the rebuild job for Ferrari's mechanics ahead of Qualifying later today.

Click go on the video player above to watch Hamilton's collision unfold.