Leclerc not yet convinced Ferrari has winning form at Monaco

Charles Leclerc insists he is not yet convinced that Ferrari can fight for pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix despite setting the pace in both practice sessions on Friday.

FP1 started with Leclerc running into the back of Lance Stroll at the hairpin – an incident that earned the Aston Martin driver a grid penalty – but he recovered to set the pace in the first session. FP2 saw Leclerc again top the times by just 0.038s over Oscar Piastri, but the local favorite says all Friday has done is stop him ruling out a chance of fighting for pole.

“Maybe a bit less convinced [that pole is out of the question] but let's say I'm not convinced the other way either,” Leclerc said. “I think for now a Friday in Monaco is always very special, very specific; I think everybody's taking a bit of their reference… So it's too early to feel very positive about the weekend, but let's say that the Friday has been very positive for us.

“I've been feeling pretty good with the car. It hasn't started the way I wanted with the crash with Lance, but after that it's been pretty smooth and I'm happy overall with the car.”

More Formula 1

Brown says Horner F1 return would be a positive, more A-B teams not so much

What the revised Formula 1 regulations are predicted to achieve in Miami

Piastri says Verstappen departure would be ‘not a great look’ but Norris thinks he’ll stay

Leclerc said one of the most encouraging aspects of Friday’s running was how the car performed on different tire compounds, as much as his headline lap times.

“The one lap pace was strong and whatever compound we were on I was feeling quite comfortable and the lap time was coming pretty quickly, so that's always a good sign," he said. "Qualifying is going to be fundamental round here and we've got to be starting in front if we want to hope for a good result.”

He doesn't quite have his teammate's speed yet, but Hamilton was having a blast finding it. Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

Teammate Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in the second session, 0.105s behind Leclerc, and was still blown away by the experience of driving in Monaco even in his 20th season in Formula 1.

“Amazing – it was awesome,” Hamilton said. “It was literally the coolest track ever to drive. The most fun every year – it's such a blast. It doesn't honestly doesn't matter what car you're in – of course it helps when you're in a nice a car that feels good and it's quick, but with the grip, the speed – it's narrow, it's fast, it's the best roller coaster rider of the year.

“And it's such a privilege – we're one of one of 20 drivers that get to drive this this track so I definitely felt very [lucky]. This morning I texted Ellen [Kolby Hansen] who's been my assistant for like 20 years, and I was like ‘I can't believe I'm still so lucky to be able to do this every year!’ I was so excited for the day."

Hamilton didn't show too strongly in the first session, winding up ninth, but he said it wasn't down to any significant issues.

“P1 was a little bit of a challenge with traffic and everything; P2 was much better," he said. "I’ve got a little bit of time to find – Charles is very quick – but otherwise a good session.

“I'd say there's more to find in my driving, in lines and braking. I've got one tenth for example just in Turn 1 so there’s bits here and there throughout the lap. With the car there are the subtle changes that they need to make, [but] I will not be making many changes at all. We might change one small thing – tiny, like a quarter of a degree of camber or something like that – but I think that'll be it.”