Ferrari The Favourites After Fast Friday In Monaco

Lewis Hamilton was the quickest driver in the final free practice session today in Monte Carlo. On the street circuit, the seven-time world champion set a lap time more than a tenth of a second quicker than his team-mate Charles Leclerc. Behind the Ferrari pair, Max Verstappen recorded the third-fastest time. All three drivers set their best lap on the C5 compound.

In FP2, all drivers, with the exception of Lando Norris and the two Aston Martin cars, ran both the C4 and C5 compounds. Norris was forced to stop his car after just seven laps on the Medium compound, while the Aston Martin drivers completed the entire session using only the Softs.

Hamilton stopped the clocks at 1:13.026, Leclerc at 1:13.137 and Verstappen at 1:13.194. As is tradition on Fridays at the Monte Carlo street circuit, the drivers completed a large number of laps to build confidence with the track: Hamilton and Leclerc, for example, both covered 34 laps, while Verstappen completed 33 laps in the second session.

While the Ferrari drivers completed the majority of their running on the C4, Verstappen worked mainly with the C5. The three fastest drivers also reflected the general trend across the rest of the field, which showed a fairly balanced usage between the two compounds.

The Hard C3 was instead used during the early phases of the first session, after which almost everyone switched to the Medium. Only the Cadillac drivers used the Soft tyres in FP1. At the end of the first hour, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were the fastest, followed by Max Verstappen in third place.

Lewis Hamilton – Fastest in FP2

‘It’s been a positive day overall and the car felt quite good right from the first laps. The team did a solid job with the changes we made between the two sessions and we were able to work through our programme without any major issues. Monaco is always a very different challenge, with the bumps and the close proximity of the barriers, so it’s not easy to find the right balance and put everything together. There is still performance to be found and tonight we’ll focus on the details, because the margins are very small here and there’s plenty of work to do ahead of qualifying.’

Charles Leclerc – Fastest in FP1

‘It was a tricky day, with some work ahead of us, in particular in terms of brake balance, but I love this track and it’s good to be back racing here. It’s going to be very tight in qualifying tomorrow, so I hope that we can take a step forward and fight for pole position.’

Simone Berra – Pirelli Chief Engineer

‘Most teams started the Monaco weekend using the Hard compound, with the aim of assessing track conditions and allowing the drivers to build confidence with the circuit. The C3 will in all likelihood be the least-used option in the race, in a scenario that should point towards a one-stop strategy, barring any neutralisations.

‘Over the course of the day, the other two compounds proved to be consistent. The long runs completed by some drivers did not show any particular degradation, while graining, although it appeared on some front axles, did not impact performance.

‘Today’s fastest lap times are just three tenths of a second away from the quickest lap indicated by the teams’ simulations. It is therefore plausible that, already in qualifying, also thanks to the further evolution of the track, which is traditionally very pronounced in the Principality, lap times quicker than the forecasts could be recorded.

‘To achieve a strong qualifying performance, it will be crucial to bring the Soft compound into the correct operating window. Teams may adopt different approaches to achieve this, taking into account the unique characteristics of the circuit. In strategic evaluations, managing traffic will also be critical, particularly in light of the presence of two additional cars on track this year.’

Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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