In FP1 in Monaco, Charles Leclerc prevails. The top positions remain prey to Ferrari, Verstappen and McLaren, with the latter still being the car to beat. Given how the weekend started, it seems that on the track there is a great balance between the performances, both of the drivers and the teams. Antonelli and Colapinto struggled slightly, while Stroll, after a contact with Leclerc himself, was forced to retire from the session.
Monaco FP1 starts with a bang between Leclerc and Stroll
Green light at the end of the Monegasque pit lane: the first to take to the track is Hadjar with Racing Bull. But he is not alone: behind him almost all the pilots take to the track. Among these also Leclerc who, on medium tyres, runs into a long one during the very first launch lap, ending up in the escape route at Mirabeau. Lewis Hamilton also opts for the yellow mix, but completing a very slow first test lap. His teammate, however, manages to take the lead in the standings in the first ten minutes.
Leclerc continues to push, until his car hits the rear of the distracted driver's car Throw Stroll. The two touch at the hairpin bend and the Monegasque Ferrari driver damages his front wing. Apparently the Aston Martin driver he didn't hear his engineer warn him of Leclerc's arrival. After the contact, the track is now invaded by some debris. Thus the first red flag goes off of the weekend.
The interruption is brief, because the marshals are able to immediately remove what remained on the asphalt of the Ferrari's front wing. The session begins again, with the activity on the track becoming frenetic. The work carried out by the teams is very varied. Many are looking for the perfect ride using the red C6 tyre, or the medium one, which should be close to the performance of the soft tyres. In the meantime, however, both Williams and other drivers like Verstappen, are running on hard tires in this FP1 in Monaco. The goal, probably, is to start building an effective strategyand, in order to comply in the most functional way possible with the rule that will see teams forced into two pit stop in the race.
McLaren very fast, Stroll retires from the session
Lance Stroll has to retire from FP1 in Monaco. After being hit by Leclerc, the Aston Martin mechanics have pitted the number 18 car. The latter will suffer the gearbox replacement and rear suspension. Difficulties also for Lawson, who suffers from brake problems, being forced to return to his garage. In the lead, with twenty-five minutes to go, is Lando Norris who, with the McLaren, immediately found the right feeling with the track, setting a good lap.
The other one is fourth McLaren of Piastri, in the middle the two Ferraris of Leclerc, second, and Hamilton, third. The number 16, who is more comfortable in the first sector of the circuit, says on the radio that he suffers from both understeer and oversteer, depending on the sector he is passing through. The McLaren, unlike the red one, seems to be more responsive on the front in the third sector, especially in the swimming pool chicane.
For the top of the standings it's Ferrari versus McLaren
Leclerc e Hamilton are running on red rubber. McLaren did the same for a while, then switched to the medium compound. The Monegasque, despite the many difficulties, managed to set the best time with almost twenty minutes to go in FP1 in Monaco. Something, however, continued to go wrong with the number 16 car. With fifteen minutes to go, Leclerc returned to the pits. He told his mechanics that the left front wheel was completely andata. Probably, the crash he had with Stroll has moved something on his car, modifying the balance of the setup. The mechanics, in fact, bring the car back into the garage and, once the left front has been removed, they are checking the condition of the suspensions.
Hamilton, on the other hand, has moved up to seventh position, while with ten minutes to go the two McLarens are in second and third. Antonelli, on the other hand, seems to be in a bit of difficulty, who with ten minutes to go are far from the top of the table in eleventh position. Verstappe toon, as usual on Fridays, he is complaining a lot about his car, while he manages to get second behind Leclerc at two tenths of a second. In the meantime Leclerc returns to the track, while Hamilton touches the wall with his front right inside the second chicane of the swimming pools, then jumping with the car on the yellow deterrent in the center of the curve. A nice jump, because of which, as a precaution, he returns to the pit-lane almost at the end of these FP1 in Monaco. No damage reported however.
Great performance by the two Williams: Albon and Sainz managed to be consistently in the top ten. He was instead fixed and in last position for the whole FP1 in Monaco Franco ColapintoThe Argentine could suffer from the fact that he is not yet very confident with his Alpine, with which he runs a grand prix alone. In the end, meanwhile, McLaren and other teams they are trying the right race pace, to observe tyre degradation. It is not usually a determining factor but, given the two-stop rule, this year it could be important to take it into account.
The session ends with Leclerc and its 1:11.964, or the best time of the session. Behind him Verstappen and then Norris. The McLaren, also seeing his brief simulation of race pace, remains, for now, the machine to beat.
