Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped Friday Practice for 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.
Verstappen struggled to sixth in FP1 after encountering set-up frustrations but rebounded to top FP2 with 1m 12.462 ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – who had topped FP1.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso meanwhile was competitive throughout both sessions as the Spaniard looks to continue his strong start to the season.
Now, here is a full roundup of everything that happened across FP1 and FP2 in Monaco.
FP1
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was first out on track as everyone but Leclerc, Sainz and Lando Norris initially opted for hard tyres, whilst the latter trio opted for mediums in their opening stints.
Norris proceeded to set the early benchmark time of 1m 18.618 but found 1.743 seconds on his next flier to go even faster, albeit after he had been displaced by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who posted 1m 17.296 to go quickest in-between Norris’ lap times.
Leclerc went fastest in the seventh minute with 1m 15.931 but three minutes later, Sainz posted 1m 15.198 to go top before Leclerc found 0.161s to go faster in the 12th minute on his home turf.
The home favourite then posted 1m 14.562 in the 14th minute to extend his lead but Sainz hit back four minutes later, with 1m 14.401 to lead Leclerc and Alonso as the opening runs began to wind down, during which Verstappen struggled with his Red Bull “bottoming” out amidst various issues.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton meanwhile looked competitive as he posted 1m 14.035 in the 29th minute to go fastest, before the red flag came out in the 38th minute for three minutes due to debris at Nouvelle Chicane after Nico Hulkenberg broke his left-rear tyre as he clipped the barrier on entry.
Once the session resumed, Alonso went fastest with 15 minutes left as he posted 1m 13.907 to displace Hamilton.
Sainz though produced a series of quick laps as he topped the session with 1m 13.372, despite a session-ending red flag coming out with three minutes left after Williams’ Alex Albon crashed on exit of Saint Devote.
Alonso settled for second fastest ahead of Hamilton, Perez and Leclerc who rounded out the top five, as everyone set their fastest lap time on the medium tyre aside from Hulkenberg.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1m 13.372 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.338 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.663 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.666 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.721 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.872 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.095 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.213 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.281 |
| 10 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.294 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.346 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.353 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.448 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.494 |
| 15 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 1.694 |
| 16 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | + 1.711 |
| 17 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.820 |
| 18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 2.185 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 2.312 |
| 20 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 2.413 |
FP2
Sargeant was first out on track once the pit exit light turned green but it was Hamilton who quickly set the pace with 1m 15.735 in the fifth minute, albeit swiftly displaced by Verstappen and Russell, with the latter pair separated by 0.005s.
Alonso two minutes later posted 1m 14.611 to go fastest from Ocon and Bottas but Verstappen went top by 0.626s just a minute later.
Verstappen’s position at the summit however didn’t last long as Hamilton produced 1m 13.984 in the 10th minute to go top, albeit by just 0.001s from the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen responded with 1m 13.857 a minute later before proceeding to lower his benchmark to 1m 13.312, as the opening runs drew to a close.
Once soft-tyre Qualifying simulations began, Alonso posted 1m 12.786 to set the soft-tyre benchmark in the 24th minute as he went fastest.
Sainz five minutes later delivered 1m 12.569 to go top from Alonso and Ocon at the halfway mark of the session, which remained unbeaten for ten minutes until Verstappen posted 1m 12.462 to top the session ahead of Leclerc who slotted into second place.
Race simulations were disrupted with a brief red flag in the 44th minute after Sainz clipped the inside barrier of the Swimming Pool chicane and bounced over the kerb into the barriers, but the session otherwise finished without further disruption once resumed.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 12.462 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.065 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.107 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.220 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.444 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.498 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.529 |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.588 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.627 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.700 |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.723 |
| 12 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.729 |
| 13 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.892 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.995 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.058 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.179 |
| 17 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | + 1.201 |
| 18 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.211 |
| 19 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.755 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 1.776 |
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