Charles Leclerc made a fine start to his home Grand Prix weekend as the Monegasque racer set the fastest time in the first practice session at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Leclerc set a time of 1m 14.531s on the medium tyre to lead the Red Bull of Sergio Perez by 0.039, with Carlos Sainz a further 0.070s behind his team mate. Championship leader Max Verstappen was further back in P4.
It was a good session for McLaren, with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo in P5 and P7 respectively, sandwiching the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly in P6. It was a trying session for Mercedes, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finishing in P8 and P10.
FP1: Leclerc leads opening Monaco practice as top three split by just 0.07s
Mick Schumacher briefly brought out the red flags after stopping by the pit lane with a gearbox issue which kept him in the pits for most of the session, while Valtteri Bottas was confined to the pits for all but two laps with a mechanical issue.
Click on the video player above to view the action from an intriguing first session in Monaco.
Next Up
Related Articles
‘Anything can happen’ – Verstappen on Qatar GP expectations
HighlightsCatch up on Qatar GP Qualifying as Piastri seizes pole
HighlightsWatch the highlights from the Qatar Sprint as Piastri wins
F1 AcademyAston Martin sign Paatz for 2026 F1 ACADEMY campaign
Ride onboard for Piastri's game-changing pole lap in Qatar
WATCH: Piastri maintains lead from pole in Qatar Sprint start