Ferrari finishes 1-2 with Red Bull 3-4, as Hamilton (at #12) suffers from bouncing issues.
MONTE CARLO, Monaco—In a home race where he does not have much luck, Charles Leclerc dominated Friday practices for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. His best time of 1:12:656 was ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who finished second in the morning session, took third.
Max Verstappen took fourth on Friday at a circuit that he won last season. And, at one point, Verstappen had the best time, only to have it eclipsed by the faster Ferraris and Perez, his teammate. Both Ferrari’s are expected to make up for the problems that occurred at the last race in Spain.
The tight circuit in the principality favors Ferrari vis-a-vis Red Bull.
Lando Norris put his McLaren in fifth, even though the Briton was still feeling the effects of tonsillitis that he encountered two weeks ago in Barcelona. George Russell took the only Mercedes in the top ten by finishing in sixth.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton has struggled all week with bouncing issues, which has bothered him most of the season. The seven-time world champion finished Friday practices with a disappointing 12th.
Pierre Gasly took seventh in the Alpha Tauri, with Fernando Alonso eighth in the Alpine. Like Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, another veteran in the top ten, finished ninth in the Aston Martin. Yuki Tsunoda completed the list by taking his Alpha Tauri in tenth.
Only two red flags took place Friday, one in each session, as Mick Schumacher unexpectedly stopped his Haas in front of the pit lane entry in the morning. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo slammed his entry into the barriers at the Piscine with 42 minutes left in the afternoon event. It took marshals ten minutes before the practice could resume at a circuit known for a lot of attrition.
Saturday’s qualifying session will be televised by ESPN2 starting at 10 a.m. Eastern.
