Home hero Charles Leclerc tops tight opening Monaco F1 practice
The opening 60-minute practice session was frantic as all the drivers got to grips with the new 2022 ca𒈔rs around tꦇhe tight Monte Carlo streets.
Leclerc rose to the top of timesheets with a 1m14.531s, with just under 0.1s separating the top four which consisted of Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz and M🗹ax Verstappen.
It didn’t all go Leclerc’s way in FP1 as he was the first driver to lock up and take to the run-off area at Sainte Deওvote.
- 'Inspired by my favourite crystal' - Hamilton reveals new F1 helmet for Monaco
- Hamilton: ‘Too much time and energy’ spent on F1 jewellery debate
Verstappen, Perez and Kevin Magnusꦚsen all made similar mistakes at Turn 1 during ✅first practice.
Both L✤eclerc and Sainz also had moments at the Nouvelle Chicane in the middle part of the lapꦍ in what was a tightly-contested session between F1’s top two teams.
There’s surely more pace to come from reigning champion Verstappen, whose lock-up at Turn 1 flat-spotted his medium tyres and meant ﷺhe spent the final portion of the session in the garage.
Outside of the top four was Lando Norris in fifth, j👍ust over 0.4s off the pace set by Lecler𓆏c.
McLaren showed encouraging pace throughout practice with Norris setting the pace at the halfway point🍬 of the session ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Pierre Gasly fared well in the AlphaTauri, finishing FꦰP1 in sixth ov💞erall ahead of Ricciardo.
George Rꦡussell was once again the lead Mercedes driver in eighth, while Sebastian Vettel broke into the top 10 after runni🏅ng the soft tyres.
Lewis Hamilton completed the top 10 in the second Mer🥀🌳cedes and was vocal throughout the session.
“The bouncing is crℱazy mate,” Hamilton said during FP1 as he complained multiple times ovᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚer team radio.
Issues plague Schumacher and Bottas
Mick Schumacher caused the only red flag of the sessioಞn after suffering an MGU-K failure.
The German tried to return to the pit lane as he was instructed not to change gear as Haas initially thought it was gearbox relat𒁃ed.
Schumache🦹r’s Haas came🎃 to a halt at the pit lane exit, causing a blockage and a brief red flag period.
It was als🅺o another torrid Friday p🅘ractice session for Valtteri Bottas.
He only comp🅘leted two laps, ending ♐the session 20th overall.
With a sharp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased𒁃 reporting.
