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Formula 1
Monaco GP
F1 Monaco GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the sixth round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
F1 heads to its sixth round this weekend and its jewel in the crown, as the paddock takes to the streets of Monte Carlo.
This should have been round seven on the calendar, but the weather emergency in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy led to last week's Imola event being cancelled.
Red Bull will be looking to continue its run of 1-2 finishes in 2023, with Max Verstappen eager to strengthen his position as the championship leader following victory in Miami.
Mercedes will take to the track with a massively upgraded car, ditching its 'zero-pod' design philosophy in the hopes of lifting itself up the grid.
FP1 starts at 12:30pm BST on Friday, with FP2 at 4pm BST.
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Sainz is third at the moment, 0.096s off Verstappen having done that lap on the hard tyres. That's pretty handy. Leclerc 10th at the moment.
Norris is out on track to check his McLaren team's fixes to the front of his car. Still no sign of Albon yet.
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Verstappen's gone quicker again with a 1m13.857s. Hamilton, Alonso, Perez, Tsunoda, Sainz, Stroll, de Vries, Ocon and Russell complete the top 10.
There was almost a very embarrassing collision between the Ferrari duo at the Swimming Pool section, as a slow Leclerc found himself in the way of his team-mate Sainz on a push lap.
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Hamilton edges into the lead of the session by 0.001s as the first 10 minutes of FP2 are in the books.
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Now Verstappen is top with a 1m13.985s. Looks like Red Bull may have turned things around at this early stage of FP2!
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Alonso now leads the way with a 1m14.611s.
In the McLaren garage, there's a fair bit of work going on around the front of Lando Norris' car. Only he and Albon have yet to set times.
Both Ferrari drivers are the only ones out on hard rubber at the moment. Sainz is fourth, Leclerc 16th.
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Russell goes top in the sister Mercedes with a 1m15.482s from Verstappen and Hamilton.
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After that opening salvo of laps, Hamilton leads with a 1m15.735s on medium tyres.
Air temperature is a pleasant (though I'm sure Autosport's news editor Megan White would describe it as roasting) 26.7 Celsius; track temp is 45.5.
Logan Sargeant leads the charge out of pitlane in his Williams.
Green flag
FP2 is go!
Alex Albon is ready and waiting in his Williams garage, but it will be some time yet before he is able to head out following his big FP1 smash.
The Isle of Man TT begins this week and, really, there isn't that much difference between the Monte Carlo seafront and Douglas promenade!
Just 10 minutes to go until FP2 goes green, so plenty of time to get your yacht ready... or put the kettle on.
It was a tough FP1 session for world champion Max Verstappen and Red Bull, as he struggled with the rear-end of his car.
As ever, FP2 will largely be about race runs. But at Monaco, that could become a very frustrating afternoon for some given the likelihood of traffic and crashes.
Good afternoon and welcome back to our live coverage of the Monaco Grand Prix! FP2 is 15 minutes away from going green.
Breaking news
In case you missed any action from that frantic FP1 session topped by Carlos Sainz, here's the full report from Alex Kalinauckas: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-monaco-gp-sainz-tops-red-flagged-fp1-as-albon-crash-ends-session-early/10473749/
Of course, the track won't be silent in that time. Not long until Formula 2 qualifying takes place - thrills and spills are virtually guaranteed there.
We've got a little over two hours until the next session begins at 5:00pm local time, so not long for the teams to pour over the data and work out where to fine-tune the set-ups. Spare a thought for the Mercedes and Aston teams working to understand their new parts too on a circuit where laptimes are often skewed by traffic.
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The field is completed by rookies De Vries, Piastri and Sargeant, plus Zhou's Alfa and the Haas in which Hulkenberg earlier tagged the barriers at the chicane to cause a left-rear puncture.
Bottas, Magnussen, Tsunoda and Gasly were split by a little over a tenth in positions 11 to 14, with Russell languishing in 15th after struggling for rear grip in the second Mercedes.
Verstappen, unhappy with the balance over the bumps, ends up sixth ahead of Norris in the lead McLaren as Ocon's Alpine, the second Aston of Stroll and Albon's crashed Williams complete the top 10.
On the first outing for the much-changed Mercedes, Hamilton clocks in third 0.663s down on Sainz, with Perez a further 0.003s back in fourth. Leclerc takes fifth in the second Ferrari.
Checkered flag
Sainz takes bragging rights from FP1, with a best time of 1m13.372s. Alonso makes it a Spanish 1-2 for Aston Martin, 0.338s in arrears.
The back end of Albon's Williams stepped out at St. Devote and he clouts the barriers with both the rear and front-left wheel, leaving him stranded Albon on the track. He reports he banged his knees, but is okay. The session will not be restarted.
Red flag
Red flag, Albon is in the wall at Turn 1.
Leclerc is currently fifth and misses out on a chance to improve with a big moment through the Swimming Pool that forces him to cut the second apex. He has history through there of course...
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A new PB for Alonso leaves him 0.020s shy of Sainz, staying in second. Alonso isn't happy meanwhile with Perez holding him up through Massanet. "These guys are incredible, incredible!" he fumes. The Aston driver adds: "I will be on the racing line all the slow laps [in retaliation]."
A little bit of housekeeping, but Sargeant has made it back onto the track after that strange issue earlier.
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Stopwatch
Amid that excitement Sainz has sprung back to the top spot on a 1m13.690s, 0.058s ahead of compatriot Alonso.
An exciting few minutes on track as Magnussen takes a trip down the St. Devote escape road before executing a perfect spin turn, while Hamilton and the following Verstappen both skip the Chicane - Verstappen then motoring past on the run to Tabac before dramatically slowing in front of Hamilton. Mind games in FP1?
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Alonso now takes charge and moves into top spot with a 1m13.907s. Hamilton ushered back to second while Perez vaults to third on a 1m14.227s ahead of Sainz and the dissatisfied Verstappen.
Before the Hulkenberg incident, Alonso had moved up to second just 0.064s shy of Hamilton. The top two in 2007 are still at the top of their game (albeit the other way around).
By: Autosport Staff
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