Leclerc leads Ferrari one-two as Hadjar and Alonso bring out the red flags in Monaco

Charles Leclerc hit the ground running in Monte Carlo, topping the opening practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix by two-tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Isack Hadjar brought out red flags just after the midway point as he went sliding sideways through the Swimming Pool chicane and crashed into the barriers. Fernando Alonso added to the tally with a red flag late in the session as he hit the barrier and left a piece of his Aston’s front wing on the track.

Charles Leclerc fastest in Monaco Grand Prix FP1

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Formula 1’s first foray onto the streets of Monte Carlo with the new generation of cars got underway on Friday with FP1 for the Monaco Grand Prix. Sergio Perez led the field out of the pits, but all eyes were on the recently re-signed Charles Leclerc, the local Monaco lad.

Perhaps not a good thing, as he went straight on at Mirabeau to avoid a big lock-up. His first timed lap was a 1:21.487, putting him three seconds down on the early pace-setter, Max Verstappen.

Arvid Lindblad reported steering issues with his Racing Bulls, which was quickly followed by complaints from his teammate Liam Lawson.

As the drivers racked up the laps around the 3.3km-long circuit, Verstappen covered eight in the opening 10 minutes as he traded P1s with Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver was quickest in that early running, having clocked a 1:15.617.

In sharp contrast, Lance Stroll had managed just one lap before heading back into the Aston Martin garage. His mechanics worked on his AMR26 with rubber gloves, suggesting an ERS issue in that car.

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Esteban Ocon vented at Oliver Bearman as he “f***ed” his lap twice, while Bearman felt his teammate was an “idiot”.

At the front, Leclerc went quickest with a 1:14.928, putting him half a second up on championship leader Kimi Antonelli. At the other end of the field, Stroll made his mark with a 1:18.707.

The frantic action on the timesheet calmed down after the first 20 minutes as the Pirellis wore down. Verstappen confirmed this, telling Red Bull: “My tyres are completely dead.” He was on his 15th lap.

Ferrari held the 1-2 mid-session with Leclerc quickest by two-tenths ahead of Hamilton. The VSC was waved when an Alpine lost a piece of bodywork.

Having run the first half of the session on the hard Pirellis, Lando Norris and Antonelli were the first drivers to swap to the mediums. Antonelli went four-tenths faster than Leclerc.

Isack Hadjar brought out the red flag with 25 minutes on the clock, after a hard hit into the wall on the exit of the Swimming Pool chicane. He went sliding out of the chicane, whacking the wall side on. “I don’t understand, like, why it snapped off like that,” he told Red Bull. “I’m sorry.”

The session resumed with 17 minutes on the clock, and unhappy Verstappen on the track. Seventh on the timesheet, he told Red Bull to “fix this release, it just f***ing, it doesn’t work.” He improved to third place, four-tenths behind Antonelli and two down on Leclerc.

Leclerc and Hamilton hit the front ahead of Antonelli, Leclerc clocking a 1:13.978 to pull two-tenths clear of his teammate and half a second up on Antonelli.

Pushing hard in the final few minutes, Lawson clipped the wall, Leclerc missed it by 5cm and the yellows were waved for a bit of an Aston Martin on the track. It was Fernando Alonso’s front wing after the Spaniard hit the wall. The red flags were back out, although the session did restart with a minute on the clock which gave the drivers enough time to get out for a practice start.

The session ended with Leclerc fastest of all by two-tenths ahead of Hamilton, and Verstappen a further three-tenths down.

Monaco Grand Prix FP1 result

1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:13.978
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:14.204
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.491
4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:14.537
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:14.983
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:15.291
7 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:15.343
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:15.565
9 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:15.750
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:15.828
11 Alex Albon Williams 1:15.989
12 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:16.041
13 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 1:16.148
14 Sergio Perez Cadillac 1:16.170
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:16.189
16 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:16.292
17 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:16.333
18 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:16.389
19 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:16.431
20 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:16.678
21 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 1:17.460
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:17.556

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