The Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc achieved the fastest time in the first free practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix, with his teammate Lewis Hamilton in second place. With a time of 1m13.978s, Leclerc has solidified expectations that place Ferrari as the favorite for this event, thanks to their strength in low-speed corners.
In addition to successes on track, the day was marked by the recent announcement of Leclerc’s renewal with the Scuderia, a topic that has drawn media attention upon arrival at the first European race of the season.
Despite a good start, Leclerc had a minor scare when he blocked his wheels in the fifth corner during the early moments of the session. Traffic conflicts also interfered with laps from drivers like Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, affecting their performances.
After 25 minutes, several drivers were competing at different paces. Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, finished in third place. Max Verstappen ended the session in fifth place, complaining about the poor condition of his tires, which limited his performance.
After an incident that caused a red flag due to Isack Hadjar‘s collision with the barriers, the session resumed with 15 minutes remaining. At that moment, Ferrari employed the strategy of going out on medium tires, but Hamilton temporarily took the lead with a time of 1m14.204s.
Leclerc, however, quickly responded and set a time under a minute and fourteen seconds, leaving Hamilton 0.226s behind. Ferrari’s performance proved to be superior, and Mercedes could not match the Monegasque’s pace.
Finally, the Aston Martin driver, Fernando Alonso, caused a new red flag with a collision at the chicane, ending the session prematurely. The final results placed Antonelli in fourth position, while George Russell, in the second Mercedes, rounded out the top 5.
The next free practice session will take place later, with hopes that the teams can improve their performance for this weekend’s qualifying.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_b99667255eb54dde2dc485d8632b07841d64b928