Leclerc Tops Friday Practice for 2024 Monaco GP

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped Friday Practice for 2024 Monaco Grand Prix.

Having finished fifth in a busy FP1 session topped by Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc dominated FP2 to finish fastest from the Brit.

McLaren meanwhile enjoyed a positive Friday as they ran their Senna tribute livery for the first time this weekend, with Lando Norris in particular looking competitive.

 

FP1

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Hamilton was first out on track and set a benchmark 1m 18.901 but McLaren’s Oscar Piastri soon set the pace with 1m 18.002 ahead of Max Verstappen who were the only two drivers on medium tyres.

Times soon began to fall as RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Verstappen and Lando Norris soon traded the quickest lap times, whilst Alpine’s Pierre Gasly saw his session ended early by a power unit issue.

Up front, Leclerc seized the fastest lap come the half-hour mark after he posted 1m 13.132 in the 23rd minute.

Drivers soon afterwards switched focus to the soft tyre runs as George Russell initially set the pace on 1m 12.295, only for Piastri to go 0.095 seconds quicker but Hamilton bettered the McLaren’s lap time with 1m 12.169 with 15 minutes left.

The session however was red flagged in the 47th minute to allow for debris to be removed following Sauber’s Guanyu Zhou hitting the barrier at St Devote, although he was able to recover to the pit lane on his own.

Light rain however moved in as the track went green again two minutes later but nobody could better Hamilton’s time as the checkered flag fell, as Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were the only drivers in the top ten to set their best lap on medium rather than soft tyres.

Outside of the top ten, Bottas and Zhou were the only pair to do their fastest lap on the soft tyre whilst the rest set their quickest lap time on the medium tyres.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1m 12.169
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.029
3	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.126
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.227
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.228
6	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.606
7	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.620
8	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 0.706
9	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 0.732
10	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.785
11	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.815
12	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 1.060
13	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	+ 1.079
14	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 1.221
15	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 1.256
16	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 1.407
17	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+ 1.981
18	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 1.990
19	Guanyu Zhou	Sauber	+ 2.401
20	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 3.405

 

FP2

Like in FP1, Hamilton, Magnussen and Russell were first out on track but it was Magnussen who set the initial benchmark time of 1m 16.766 in the fourth minute.

His lap time was quickly eclipsed as Hamilton – on medium tyre, Verstappen and Leclerc – both on hard tyre – soon exchanged fastest laps, until Leclerc took control with 1m 12.372 in the tenth minute.

The Monegasque found 0.799s to end the opening stint with 1m 11.573 and once Qualifying simulations were completed, he set the pace with 1m 11.278 set in the 27th minute as Hamilton and Alonso rounded out the top three.

Tsunoda, Piastri, Ricciardo, Bottas and Zhou were the only drivers to not set their best lap times on the soft tyre.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1m 11.278
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.188
3	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.475
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.535
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.675
6	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.684
7	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.784
8	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 0.821
9	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.979
10	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.982
11	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 1.071
12	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 1.088
13	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 1.195
14	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 1.276
15	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 1.291
16	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 1.299
17	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 1.472
18	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+ 1.512
19	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	+ 1.779
20	Guanyu Zhou	Sauber	+ 2.455