Leclerc survives Stroll crash and tames unruly Ferrari to beat Verstappen and Norris
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A filmmaker with a soft spot for Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and above all, Tazio Nuvolari and Ayrton Senna, is also a diehard Formula One fan since the age of 4 (mid-90's). An avid researcher of the past of Grand Prix Racing since before it was even named F1, and with a thirst for knowledge of the ins and outs of the actuality of the sport, as well as for the technical aspects that define it, is a member of GPblog since 2023, where he has put his love of racing to good use.
As it happened
Home hero, Charles Leclerc went off straight at Mirabeau, locking up, with the SF-25 Ferrari struggling for grip in the early hours of the session.
Despite his off in his reconnaissance lap Leclerc took the top spot on mediums, before Lando Norris on softs, held up by Franco Colapinto, demoted him to P2. Max Verstappen on the hard tyres then went quickest, albeit momentarily as Lewis Hamilton took P1 on a medium tyre compound.
Norris and Piastri then started to unleash their qualifying pace as they pipped Hamilton’s P1 time by nearly a second with the Briton surpassing his Australian teammate’s efforts to take over the lead during FP1.
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Verstappen jumped to P3 as Hamilton, despite Sectors 1 and 2 being strong enough to beat both McLarens, locked up into la Rascasse, losing 7 tenths overall in that corner.
As many drivers complained about the traffic, with Liam Lawson accusing Hamilton of braking just ahead of him, which his Racing Bulls engineer labeled ‘usual stuff’ from the 7-time world champion, and Pierre Gasly demanding fellow drivers to ‘wake up’, as ‘it’s Monaco’.
Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris also went straight, but unlike Leclerc, both former teammates at McLaren did so at St. Devote.
Leclerc, despite being unhappy with the setup of his car took the top of the timing page ahead of Norris, with Sainz taking P3 in front of Hamilton Piastri, Russell and Verstappen who was still to drive around the narrow and twisty Monte Carlo track in anger.
When he did, though, his RB21’s pace was 0.641s off Leclerc’s 1:11.964 leading FP1 time.
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Hamilton was on a flier with Andrea Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes right in front of him, as they both approached the pool, when the Briton clipped the inside wall which propelled his Ferrari unto the sausage kerb launching the car up in the air. Hamilton then asked to box and bemoaned the traffic situation around Monaco.
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