What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix

Small turbo, excellent mechanical grip; the clairvoyants' forecasts decreed that Ferrari would have an excellent chance of breaking Mercedes' current stranglehold on 2026's Formula 1 proceedings at the Monaco Grand Prix. 

Maranello's finest certainly demonstrated its intent during practice, where Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton scooped top spot in one session apiece on a Friday afternoon around the Port Hercule. In both sessions it was Max Verstappen's Red Bull, not the Mercedes pair of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, who was closest; this very much demonstrates the power dynamic around Monaco, where old-money mechanical grip triumphs over the new-money aerodynamic efficiency and energy deployment.

It is no secret what Ferrari has in its pocket for 2026: a car that continues the team's lineage of compliant machines that absorb the myriad kerbs and bumps around the Monte-Carlo streets. The SF-26, like its forebears, hooks its talons into the corners and offers the drivers a burst of traction on the exits, unruffled and settled under the suspension travel. Of note was its less weighty turbo, one that proves to be occasionally asthmatic amid the upper speed ranges, yet delivers a punch of torque when escaping the slower corners that resolves in strong throttle response under the drivers' right feet. 

In pure pace terms, Ferrari has historically - at least, in recent years - gone well in Monaco. Luck at the roulette table, however, has occasionally deserted it; Leclerc's qualifying shunt in 2021 contributed to the aftershock of failing to start as his driveshaft had sustained damage in the crash - this was either not detected afterwards, or Ferrari decided to risk everything on preserving a front-row start. Strategy unravelled its front-row lockout in 2022, as Red Bull overcut Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the transition to slicks during a wet opening act, and early form evaporated in the crunch sessions in '23. 

And, as Mercedes struggles to evoke its early-season form on a circuit that demands more from the mechanical underpinnings, rather than aero efficiency or outright engine power, the goal is wide open for Ferrari to capitalise. Unless, of course, Verstappen has anything to do with it.

It was altogether less clear how Red Bull would fare in Monaco. The RB22 chassis is, when you consider the package holistically, the weak link in more conventional conditions. Consistent high-speed corner performance has been difficult to come by this year, although this naturally an issue masked by the demands of Monaco, and it ultimately boils down to what the car can do at low-speed. 

Ferrari looks at home in the low-speed environs of Monte-Carlo's streets

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While the Red Bull can handle these sorts of conditions reasonably well, it is significantly less happy than the Ferrari over bumps and kerbs, suggesting that the car performs at its best when sprung more stiffly. It makes for an uncomfortable ride at times, demonstrated by the way Isack Hadjar smote the wall in FP1, but it can be at least mitigated by driver input and iterative set-up tinkering. Verstappen seemed to have the balance of it by the end of the FP2 qualifying simulations, albeit less consistently versus the Ferraris.

The adage goes that success in Monaco is 90% qualifying. Even if Ferrari can saunter to pole on Saturday, however, Sunday is hardly an arrive-and-drive event. While F1 is no longer subject to the gamesmanship of the mandatory two-stop strategy employed last year, teams are at liberty to play games to upset the strategic applecart. And if you take your news digest entirely through the medium of internet memes, Ferrari and strategy calls haven't been easy bedfellows...

"It's a very long way in Monaco from Friday first to the quali and to the race," said Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, who was keen to play down the early 'favourites' tag. "The most difficult is that you have to anticipate the evolution of the track, the evolution of the grip.

"The trends that we see with Ferrari every year here and on street tracks and what we've seen today have been there for probably 10 years" George Russell

"You have to be always one session ahead. This is a real challenge for the team and for the drivers. It's still a long way and we'll see tomorrow evening about the real pace."

Of course, Mercedes should not yet be discounted; although practice hasn't been particularly fortuitous so far, the team has been able to dig performance out of its W17 when its back is against the wall. Russell was only lacking 0.379s to Hamilton's chart-topping effort in FP2, but it's not going to be an easy chunk of time to find when chassis limitations comprise some of that deficit.

"The trends that we see with Ferrari every year here and on street tracks and what we've seen today have been there for probably 10 years, to be honest," Russell suggested. "I think every car has an inherent DNA and their inherent DNA, especially on the mechanical side of the car, clearly works on these street tracks, especially when there's a lot of warp in the corners, the corners dropping away."

Mercedes has time to find in the final sector

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At the very least, Mercedes should be able to factor ahead of McLaren, which endured a fraught Friday. Sporting a celebratory 1000th grand prix livery (incongruously on the weekend of what should be its 999th grand prix start), the Woking squad struggled to dial in its MCL40 and its efforts were not helped when Lando Norris' car ground to a halt at the Nouvelle Chicane with a suspected electrical issue. 

Chief designer Rob Marshall stated that the first half of the lap had been McLaren's weakness, potentially something for it to dig into with tyre preparation before embarking upon a flying run in qualifying. On comparing Oscar Piastri's best lap from FP2 to that of Hamilton, it's clear where the time evaporates: a whopping six-tenths of a second are lost between Mirabeau (Turn 5) and Portier (Turn 8). Here, Hamilton is driving to the needs of the car by dropping into first gear at Mirabeau and using a smidgen of throttle through Turns 7 and 8 to keep the turbo spooled. Piastri stays in second for Mirabeau, and loses a big slice of engine speed as a result.

Of course, the Ferrari and Mercedes powertrains function differently, but Russell is also exploring the lower gears to get a bit more drive towards the hairpin. Even so, the Ferrari is thriving here and simply carries the speed through the tighter corners much more adeptly. Mercedes loses a bit of time in this sector, but gains almost all of it back through the tunnel and through Tabac. The bulk of Russell's deficit actually comes at the Rascasse, and setting up for the tight-right hander gives it a clear objective to work on for Saturday. 

"Fourth-best" chassis puts Audi best of the rest

Mellow yellow: The Audi appears to handle well in Monaco

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Audi CEO Mattia Binotto made the claim on the lead-in to Monaco that his team possessed the fourth-best chassis in F1, with it known that the German marque's first attempt at a powertrain fits into the mould of 'good, but not great'. A bullish statement, it seemed, but Audi's performance so far has put it at the head of the midfield after finishing eighth and ninth in FP2.

There was a near three-tenth gap between Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, and the latter surmised that he found difficulty in extracting a decent lap out of the soft tyres - which appeared to need a couple of prep laps to get working properly. That Hulkenberg was almost 0.4s clear of the next midfield regular in Haas' Ollie Bearman does suggest that Audi is in a very good place, particularly as it aims to avoid getting drawn into an incredibly tight battle with the other midfield outfits. 

Bearman, Pierre Gasly of Alpine, and Williams' Carlos Sainz were all within 0.056s after their fastest laps of the session, with Alex Albon not far behind. Franco Colapinto suggested that his struggles at the wheel of the second Alpine, in which he was surrounded by the Racing Bulls cars in the timesheets, were made manifest by a lack of confidence under braking. That seemed evident when he clunked the wall at Sainte Devote, although managed to glance the barrier at the right angle to avoid a full-scale clean-up operation. 

But, as Vasseur keenly pointed out, all 11 F1 teams have to anticipate the evolution of the circuit - which will ramp up significantly as the resurfaced portions of the track get bedded in, and the older layers of asphalt begin to recall the taste of F1-grade tyre rubber. What we do know is this: qualifying, as ever, should be spectacular.

Can Verstappen set the cat among the pigeons - or, alternatively, set a Bull among the Prancing Horses?

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