Vasseur hospitalised ahead of Monaco qualifying as Ferrari issue health update

The 58-year-old, who was on hand to see his team top both practice sessions, will now miss both FP3 and qualifying.

According to a statement from the Maranello-based outfit, it read: “Fred Vasseur will not be present at the circuit today. Following some medical checks, Fred will remain under observation at a local medical facility. No further medical information will be provided. We wish Fred a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back at the track soon.”

Earlier, Lewis Hamilton had a clear message for the chasing pack: there is still more to extract from the pace shown so far. Hamilton, who clocked a staggering lap time of 1:13.026, the quickest of day one, was over a tenth quicker than Charles Leclerc.

The British driver, who last time out in Canada claimed his second podium for the Ferrari outfit, was brimming with optimism, noting how well they had executed the session without any major hiccups, before adding how he and his engineer aim to further delve into the data to extract more performance ahead of Saturday’s crucial qualifying session.

Amid Hamilton’s rhetoric, Verstappen, who leads the chasing pack, was also generally positive about his outing and has his sights set on further improving on the third place he achieved through the entirety of Friday’s running.

While Hamilton is optimistic, Leclerc is a bit wary of the chasing pack. The Monegasque earlier put Ferrari’s advantage over the rest of the grid into perspective.

“I mean, Red Bull and Max especially were very close to us in FP2, so I expect them to be very strong. I expect Mercedes as well. Once they put everything together in qualifying, they will be very close. So I think it’s going to be a tight quali and more than what people expect,” he said after Friday’s running.