The second practice session in Monaco began with all 20 drivers heading straight out onto the circuit. Liam Lawson led the field in his VCARB 02.

Early on, Max Verstappen set the fastest time ahead of both McLaren drivers. But he wasn’t completely happy and reported issues with gear shifts to his team, saying it felt like a problem they had already faced before.

Just eight minutes into the session, red flags were waved for the first time. Isack Hadjar crashed coming out of the tunnel, hitting the wall near the Nouvelle chicane and damaging his rear wheel. He managed to bring the car back to the pits, but debris on the track meant a short pause while marshals cleaned up.

When the session resumed, quick laps came from Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly, both Mercedes drivers and both Ferraris. Lando Norris was still struggling to put a clean lap together. Verstappen was frustrated with one of the Sauber cars for holding him up in the Swimming Pool section.

Another red flag soon followed when Oscar Piastri crashed at Turn 1 Sainte Devote. He broke the front wing on his McLaren but managed to reverse out and return slowly to the pit lane. Meanwhile, rookie Kimi Antonelli had a small moment at Mirabeau but kept control and Oliver Bearman was placed under investigation for a possible red flag infringement.

At the halfway mark, Lewis Hamilton was fastest with a time of 1 minute 12.025 seconds using the medium tyres. He was followed by Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Lando Norris. Soon after, Leclerc switched to soft tyres and went fastest and then improved again by another six hundredths of a second.

As the final part of the session approached, the fight at the top got even tighter. Piastri returned to the track with a new front wing and set the second fastest time just 0.038 seconds behind Leclerc. Hamilton slotted into third only a tenth behind. Verstappen and Norris tried to improve but still couldn’t match the Ferrari’s pace.

Hadjar’s difficult session continued when he hit the advertising boards in Turn 1 and damaged his rear left tyre. Yellow flags were shown but the session was not stopped as he managed to get to the pits. Verstappen also had another issue at Mirabeau where he ran into the escape road and struggled to find reverse, though he eventually got going again.

In the final minutes, most drivers focused on long runs and race simulations. Leclerc’s lap remained unbeaten as he finished fastest again in front of his home crowd. Piastri stayed second and Hamilton completed the top three. Norris took fourth for McLaren followed by Liam Lawson in fifth and Isack Hadjar in sixth for Racing Bulls. Fernando Alonso placed seventh ahead of Alexander Albon in eighth. Kimi Antonelli finished ninth and Verstappen had to settle for tenth after a tricky session.