F1 Monaco GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the eighth round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
F1 returns to Monaco for its annual dash around the principality, where all the focus will be on what is arguably the most important qualifying session of the season.
With the gap between Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari appearing to shrink with the latest raft of updates and the walls waiting to claim unsuspecting drivers, the pressure will be high not to make a mistake.
FP1 starts at 12:30 BST (13:30 local time) followed by FP2 at 16:00 BST (17:00 local time).
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
11 Days
22 hrs
13 min
04 sec
Full coverageCheck out our full coverage of Miami GP
"The car is so loose on the bumps, so any correction with engine braking or brake bias is just making it all worse," Verstappen reports, kindly demonstrating my point.
The chequered flag is out, but Gasly gets just enough time to complete a lap having had his Alpine repaired. He remains 20th and last, but it is positive that he got back out before the end of the session.
Sargeant and Leclerc also have time for a near-miss into the Nouvelle chicane as the Ferrari driver fails to spot the dark Williams coming out of the tunnel.
Time for a quick spot of lunch, sadly we aren't heading down to Cafe de Paris because it is fully booked (probably), but never fear, we'll be back in action ahead of FP2 that starts at 4pm BST. Until then, go well!
Lewis Hamilton lead the way in FP1 in somewhat of a surprise as he ran the old front wing, although team-mate George Russell was also on the pace with the upgraded part.
With the threat of rain for FP2, some teams went onto the soft rubber earlier in the day than they would have liked, but Red Bull was not among that number and Verstappen and Perez fell out of the top 10 as a result.
It is worth remembering that there is more than just F1 going on this weekend. Enjoying a change of scenery, Karun Chandhok is taking in one of the other great motorsport spectacles!
Gasly endured a difficult opening session with power unit problems keeping him in the garage for much of the time. Alpine will be looking to make up for lost ground in the coming hour.
With Monaco being comfortably the shortest lap on the calendar, the laptimes are already coming, with Magnussen setting the first effort of a 1m16.766s.
As the drivers, all 20 of whom are on the track already, get used to the layout, medium and hard tyres are the order of the day. That will change soon enough though.
I take it all back about the drivers not pushing early on as Hamilton returns to the top with a very loose-looking Mercedes. But moments later, Verstappen goes fastest with a 1m13.265s.
Away from the top, Norris moves into the top five, initially to fourth before being pushed back by the new fastest driver, Charles Leclerc - a 1m12.372s the time to beat.
"This vibration braking into Turn 11 is insane at the moment. It's impossible to hold onto the steering wheel," reports Russell as he skips across the Nouvelle Chicane.
It's a continuation of a problem he suffered in FP1.
"I'm jumping like a kangaroo, man. I'm getting headaches, it's crazy," Verstappen informs Red Bull. All does not seem well at a track that Red Bull expected not to suit them as much as some others.
Albon has left the pits on soft tyres. We're entering the phase where we'll begin to see who could set themselves up for the best chance of a Monaco GP victory.
