Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
Leclerc wins first Free Practice in Monaco as Ferrari takes 1-2
The session took place under ideal sunny weather conditions. There were two crashes caused by Isack Hadjar in Red Bull and Fernando Alonso in Aston Martin. Both incidents were followed by Red Flags. Behind both Ferraris finished Verstappen, Antonelli and Russell.
Charles Leclerc in Ferrari went on the track as soon as the session started but he faced problems with breaking in his first lap. Four minutes into the first Free Practice Arvid Lindblad reported steering problems and later his teammate Liam Lawson joined him and reported same problems in the same turn.
Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap time of 1:19:737 seconds. All cars were on hard tires but Cadillac soon changed to medium tires.
14 minutes into the session Haas drivers were complaining about each other as they were close on the track while doing their fast laps. Isack Hadjar reported to the radio that his car is bouncing a lot and it is not driveable going up the hill.
Sergio Perez complained about his car’s bouncing and Max Verstappen reported that his tires are completely dead. At this time Hamilton massively locked up but there was no incident.
Something flew away of Pierre Gasly’s car which caused a yellow flag for few seconds. Later it was followed by Virtual Safety Car as the track needed to be cleared.
In the middle of the session Charles Leclerc topped the standings with time 1:14:928 seconds with Hamilton and Antonelli behind.
With 24 minutes remaining Isack Hadjar had a crash in Turn 16 which caused a Red Flag immediately later followed by closed Pit Exit. After eight minutes the session was resumed and cars were allowed to return on the track.
As was the session coming to an end more teams started to test medium tires and 11 minutes before the end Verstappen complained again about the car’s settings.
Kimi Antonelli set the fastest lap time 1:14:537 seconds. Soon after Leclerc beat that time with 1:13:978 seconds.
Four minutes before the end there was a Yellow Flag as Fernando Alonso had a crash. He managed to drive back into the boxes but there was a Red Flag as the barrier was damaged. The session was stopped but later the drivers were allowed back on the track to practice their starts.
FP1 results:
1st – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2nd – Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – +0.226
3rd – Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – +0.513
4th – Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – +0.559
5th – George Russell (Mercedes) – +1.005
6th – Lando Norris (McLaren) – +1.313
7th – Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) – +1.365
8th – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – +1.587
9th – Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – +1.772
10th – Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – +1.850
11th – Alexander Albon (Williams) – +2.011
12th – Carlos Sainz (Williams) – +2.063
13th – Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing) – +2.170
14th – Sergio Perez (Cadillac) – +2.192
15th – Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – +2.211
16th – Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team) – +2.314
17th – Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team) – +2.355
18th – Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) – +2.411
19th – Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – +2.453
20th – Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – +2.700
21st – Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) – +3.482
22nd – Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – +3.578
