Live text
Formula 1
Monaco GP
F1 Monaco GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Updates from F1 Friday practice at Monte Carlo
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).
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
5 Days
01 hrs
50 min
13 sec
Live Text
Sort by
Russell goes purple in sector one, but Verstappen is quickest of anybody in sector two and topples Norris from the top of the times with a 1m14.712s. Perez also follows him into the sub-1m15s bracket on a 1m14.900s.
Quick hands from Albon! The Williams driver has a big moment on the bump approaching the chicane, but manages to keep it out of the wall as his car veered alarmingly to the right.
Gasly improved again last time around on the medium to a 1m15.083s, but is still fractionally behind Norris to the tune of 0.027s.
Russell had moved ahead of Hamilton with his previous effort on the medium, and now leaps up to third with a 1m15.211s, while his team-mate is seventh on a 1m15.499s.
Perez sets a new PB, but his 1m16.278s is only good enough for 13th. The leading Red Bull charger currently is now the AlphaTauri of Gasly, who goes second on a 1m15.150s on mediums.
Norris has the quickest middle and third sector times, but Verstappen on hard tyres still has the fastest opening sector that comprises the blast up the hill towards Massenet, which isn't quite a straight but is about as close as you get at Monaco.
Ricciardo now slots neatly in behind his team-mate on a 1m15.241. The top two now has a very 1998 look to it...
As Verstappen goes out again on hards - he hasn't used the medium or soft yet, remember - Vettel moves up to third on softs with a 1m15.387s.
Another improvement from Norris puts him on a 1m15.056s. Surely the first sub-1m15s lap isn't far away?
The McLarens are looking handy today. Norris now goes fastest on a 1m15.301s, slotting ahead of Verstappen by 0.026s.
Quote
"I have no front grip man," shouts Stroll, who tells his engineer that "I'm about to crash it" before requesting to pit.
He may not be too happy with his car, but Hamilton now goes second on a 1m15.499s, as Ricciardo moves up to third on a 1m15.700s. Albon meanwhile goes P8, shuffled back a spot by Zhou on mediums.
Norris is another to improve on the medium and now splits the Ferraris by moving into third on a 1m15.720s. Hamilton still isn't happy meanwhile, complaining that the "bouncing is crazy".
Hamilton has now put on a set of mediums and goes fourth-fastest. Watch out too for Albon, who is the first man to fit softs in the session so far and therefore can be expected to move up from 13th.
Only Valtteri Bottas has yet to set a time aboard the Alfa Romeo. He's had a few install laps, but no flyers yet, which will be a bit of a worry with almost half of the session having now elapsed.
It's been a good start to the session for Ricciardo, who at the scene of his disastrous race in 2021 when he was lapped by Norris is sitting pretty in P4 right now. Gasly also faring well in P6, right behind Perez.
Twitter
Green flag
And we're back underway, with Stroll the first man out.
Fortunately it doesn't have to be pushed too far either, and is now back at the Haas box where the team's mechanics can pore over Schumacher's machine.
Efficient Monaco marshals have popped Schumacher's car onto dolly jacks and are pushing it down the pitlane, so hopefully the stoppage won't last long.
Red flag
The Haas driver had reported problems with his gearbox and been told not to shift by his engineer. The red flag is now out while his car is recovered.
Perez was set to improve, but there are yellow flags in sector three and it's for Schumacher who is stranded at the pitlane entry.
We've not seen too much so far from Sergio Perez. The second Red Bull driver is fifth on the timesheets currently, 1.16s behind team-mate Verstappen.
Twitter
And now Verstappen goes faster still. It's a 1m15.327s for the Dutchman, 0.387s faster than Leclerc - who improves to second on a 1m15.714s before overshooting St Devote and having to take to the run-off.
Sainz now goes back to the top in this constantly-changing order, a 1m15.882s from the Spaniard puts him 0.001s ahead of Leclerc. Tighter than the Premier League title race...
Hamilton has had a trip over the kerbs at the second part of the Swimming Pool complex. A little wiggle on entry puts him on a wider-than-ideal line, and he elects not to risk a shunt by hopping over the sausage kerbs.
Verstappen went purple in the middle sector last time around, which put him on a 1m15.993, just 0.050s behind Leclerc on the harder tyres. He's tracking the Ferrari step-by-step.
The top 6 after 10 minutes is as follows:
1. Leclerc
2. Sainz
3. Verstappen
4. Norris
5. Hamilton
6. Ricciardo
As Hamilton goes fifth, citing "an incredible amount of bouncing", Leclerc now goes back to the top spot with the first sub-1m16s lap of the weekend at 1m15.883s for Ferrari.
Now Verstappen improves again on his hard tyres to split the medium-shod Ferraris, a 1m16.276s for the Dutchman, only for Sainz to vault ahead of the Red Bull and Leclerc to re-take top spot on a 1m16.020s.
Leclerc, still on the mediums, punches another new benchmark at 1m16.157s, as Sainz moves into second on 1m16.572s.
Now Verstappen becomes the first man to dip under the 1m17s bracket, with a 1m16.582s. As the track rubbers in, that's perhaps to be expected.
But no sooner does Norris split the two Ferraris, Ricciardo goes back to the top again on a 1m17.123s. The Australian likes it here remember, and should have had a win in 2016 before a Red Bull tyre bungle dropped him behind Hamilton.
Times are rapidly tumbling. After what we can only assume must have been a warmup lap on the mediums, the Ferraris go first and second with Sainz leading Leclerc. It's a 1m17.252s for the Spaniard.
Traffic, clearly, will be a factor here as the final sector is renowned for drivers backing up to find some clear space, resulting in a traffic jam that can mean they catch the tail of the snake when they are completing their flyer. Let's see how much of a factor that plays today.
Everybody barring the two Ferraris are running on the hard tyres to start off. On the medium, Sainz logs the first time to aim for, a 1m22.247s, but that's quickly surpassed by several of the hard runners, Ricciardo currently top on a 1m20.364s.
Gasly complains over the radio that the leg padding is too intrusive on his AlphaTauri. That's not one I've heard before.
Most of the field streams out of the pits immediately. Monaco is unlike virtually any other track on the calendar - every team here will be running their highest downforce configuration to get the car working through the myriad slow-speed corners - so nobody can afford to sit back and let the session pass them by.
Green flag
We've got the green light at the end of the pitlane, FP1 in Monaco is go!
By: Autosport Staff
Published:
Page:
