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Formula 1 Monaco GP

F1 Monaco GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2

Updates from F1 Friday practice at Monte Carlo

view of Monaco marina

Fresh from the Spanish GP, the F1 action continues with the Monaco GP.

In a format change to the traditional race weekend at the principality, practice has been moved to Friday to come into line with the regular schedule of other races, instead of practice being held on Thursday ahead of a rest day.

Max Verstappen is the new Formula 1 world championship leader after winning the Spanish GP, as Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from a dominant lead in the race due to a MGU-H and turbo failure with his Ferrari.

Second practice for the Monaco GP gets underway at 4.00pm BST (5.00pm local time).

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Crash
Ricciardo was on his second lap of the session when he loses control approaching the Swimming Pool and hits the wall hard. The car's front end is a mess, so that's his Friday over and done.
Red flag
Ricciardo isn't so lucky, the McLaren driver has crashed heavily. Red flag.
Vettel needs to head to the casino as he's got all the luck right now. He gets his Aston Martin sliding in the Swimming Pool section and goes inches away from clattering the barrier with his left-rear wheel.
Stopwatch
It's a Red Bull 1-2 at the top of the times, as Verstappen floats up to second 0.254s behind Perez.
Ricciardo is the other driver yet to venture out on the track so far in this session.
Bottas pops out of the garage for the first time in FP2, having undergone power unit part changes after completing just two laps in first practice, while Zhou's car undergoes set-up changes.
Stopwatch
The times are chopping and changing, as Perez goes top now with a 1m14.001s on the mediums.
A yellow flag appears and then quickly disappears, not clear why but Sainz and Tsunoda went off track at the Nouvelle chicane, but that's more likely to get out of the way of others on quick laps.
Stopwatch
Leclerc now leads with a 1m15.762s set on the hards.
Mechanical problem
After Schumacher's FP1 stoppage Haas has confirmed his car has undergone a gearbox and MGU-K change for this practice session.
Stopwatch
Perez then goes quicker with a 1m16.176s also on mediums.
Stopwatch
Albon pops in the first timed lap of the session with a 1m18.066s on the mediums.
Plenty of early track action with 12 drivers already on track including Verstappen, Leclerc and Sainz.
Green flag
Let's get this on, shall we.
What's the main focus for FP2? Expect plenty of soft tyre running, while most teams will look to dial out the stiffness of these new generation cars around Monaco. Easier said than done given the new wheels and tyres.
Speaking of the weather, there is rain forecast for Sunday so you know what that means. Dry and dull guaranteed.
Sun
If F1 thought it had left the super-hot weather behind in Miami and Spain, well think again - at least for today. It is bright and sunny in Monaco with air temperature over 30C again - track temperature is 53.4C which is hotter than Spain produced. Toasty.
A few clever clogs of you out there pointed out whoever has topped FP1 hasn't gone on to win the race come Sunday this season. Given Leclerc topped first practice and his poor home fortunes, that's another crux on him.
Breaking news
Young Lando Norris is still struggling with tonsillitis which put him under the weather in last week's Spanish GP. It doesn't seem to stop his performance on track though, as he ended FP1 in fifth place.

Here's the full story: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-monaco-gp-leclerc-leads-opening-practice-from-perez/10311596/
Good afternoon one and all, we're back behind the wheel of this live text coverage of Friday practice at the Monaco GP. FP2 is coming up in 15 minutes.
You don't have too long to wait for FP2, which gets underway at 16:00 BST. We'll see you then, as Haydn Cobb takes over the Live wheel. Have a good afternoon!
Breaking news
In case you missed any of the FP1 action, here's the full report from Matt Kew: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-monaco-gp-leclerc-leads-opening-practice-from-perez/10311596/
In the lap tally stakes, it was Albon who logged the most during FP1 at 39, ahead of Tsunoda on 36 and Russell on 34. Of those who completed the session without problems, Ocon managed the fewest with 24 laps.
Still, that was plenty of laps more than Bottas managed. We're told that it was a power unit problem that left the Alfa Romeo man rooted in the garage, so he'll be playing catchup this afternoon in FP2.
Haas has confirmed that it was an MGU-K issue that thwarted Schumacher's FP1 and limited him to just 12 laps. He ends the session P19.
Drivers are now completing practice starts on the grid. Hamilton has requested elbow pads, such is the level of violent bouncing in his Mercedes' cockpit.
Checkered flag
It's so tight at the top as we end FP1, with just 0.070s splitting the top three as Leclerc heads Perez and Sainz. Verstappen is fourth, after making the early pace on the hard tyres, with Norris and Gasly completing the top six.
"It's so bouncy out here man," says Hamilton. "I'm [expletive] losing my mind." He's down in tenth, two spots behind team-mate Russell.
In answer to our earlier question, the only drivers currently on the softs are the Aston Martins and Latifi's Williams, so the big players electing to keep their powder dry (and tyre allocations healthy).
Sainz has a bit of a moment over the kerbs at the chicane, realising that his trajectory was likely to put him on a collision course with the wall, he steered right and then misses the apex.
Less than 10 minutes to go now, will we see anybody take softs in search of a late glory run?
Perez has taken a bit of time to feel his way into things, but the Mexican now moves up to second, splitting the Ferraris on a 1m14.570s.
Magnussen becomes the latest driver to find the Turn 1 run-off, this time after locking his left-front. He tells his Haas crew that the flat spot is "too big", so he comes back to the pits.
Sainz was down in P14 prior to his most recent run on the medium, which moves him up to second on a 1m14.601s. That re-establishes the early Ferrari 1-2, as Leclerc had just posted a 1m14.531s.
He must have heard us - Alonso takes the bull by the horns and wrestles the Alpine up to P12 on a 1m15.749s ahead of Magnussen and Sainz.
It's not been a glittering session so far for Alpine. Ocon is the slowest of the drivers to have set a lap so far (still no sign of Bottas emerging), and has yet to trouble the 1m18.7s bracket - he's four seconds off the pace in P19, while Alonso in P16 isn't faring much better.
Sainz set purple sectors in the first and second sectors last time but didn't improve his time after backing off in the final sector. Leclerc meanwhile went up to second, but couldn't topple Verstappen with a 1m14.746s.
Verstappen becomes the latest driver to find the St Devote run-off after a huge front-right lock-up. He was running on mediums at the time - that won't have done them any good.

By: Autosport Staff

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