Charles Leclerc completed a solid ‘double top’ at his home Monaco Grand Prix on Friday, taking practice second fastest than his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. The 24-year-old Monegasque driver, who was also the fastest in the opening session, clocked a best lap at one minute and 12.656 seconds and trailed the Spaniard by just 0.044 seconds, two behind Sergio Pérez’s Red Bull and world champion Max Verstappen. left. Third and fourth, refracted more than three-tenths. Lando Norris, still battling tonsillitis, was fifth for McLaren ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Pierre Gasly, who finished an impressive seventh for the Alfa Tauri team on a very hot afternoon in the Mediterranean.
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso was eighth for Alpine, while four-time champion was ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Yuki Tsunoda in second Alfa Tauri.
This left the disgruntled Lewis Hamilton in 12th place, behind Kevin Magnussen’s Haas, in second Mercedes, the seven-time champion struggling to bounce back as he sought a set-up that was comfortable and fast.
The session was once interrupted by a red flag when Daniel Ricciardo crashed into the swimming pool complex, coming out unscathed from his damaged McLaren.
After topping the opening season, Leclerc was back on pace in his Ferrari, running on hard tyres, as he sought to become the first Monegasque to score points at home since Louis Chiron finished third in 1950. was on and again took the lead. This year’s Drivers’ Championship.
After his third consecutive win in Spain last Sunday, Dutchman Verstappen is six ahead of Leclerc on 110 points.
In a rapidly changing competition between them, Red Bull and Ferrari were within two-tenths of a second as Russell and the rest collided in the chase, with Mercedes still looking for a successful set-up.
“Undriving” Mercedes
In early practice, Hamilton complained of persistent severe bounce, described by team chief Toto Wolff as making his car ‘driveable’.
He explained that this is not the same ‘porpoising’ as seen earlier this year, but a ride height problem.
“Sometimes, it’s a combination of aerodynamics and stiffness, but it’s only because of stiffness,” he said, with Hamilton requesting padding for his elbows for the second season.
“We’ll try to make it more enjoyable for them, but we want a faster car,” he said. “If it’s fast, we’ll make him all the pads he needs.”
Ricciardo gave yet another example of the bumpy challenge the drivers were facing after 14 minutes, when they lost control of their McLaren and ran into obstacles in the ‘swimming pool’ complex.
He was not hurt but his car suffered serious damage from the front, ending his participation. A seven-minute delay for the second red flag of the day came before Valtteri Bottas, first back in action after gearbox problems, headed back to the field in his Alfa Romeo.
Before returning to an intense ‘qualifying rehearsal’ scrap, the pause gave everyone a chance to breathe and relax in the heat with air temperatures of 30 degrees and the track at 53.
Leclerc continued to show his dominance, trimming his lap to 1:12.656, three-tenths clear of an improved Pérez, before Sainz climbed to second, two-tenths of a second on pace.
At this point, with 20 minutes to go, Ferrari were on top of Red Bull’s challenge, while the others scrambled and scrapped. Russell cut the barriers at Tabac, Norris did the same at Stay Devot and Hamilton closed at Mirabeau – the three Britons slipping into the heat before long running high fuel-loads.
publicized
Leclerc was notable for his absence with 12 minutes remaining, but he returned in the last six to complete a solid day’s work by the ‘Scarlet Scuderia’, which ended with a strong one-two.
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