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Leclerc sweeps Friday in Monaco ahead of Piastri
Charles Leclerc beat Oscar Piastri to top spot in second practice at the Monaco Grand Prix to double down on Ferrari’s unexpected early advantage in Monte Carlo.
Leclerc spent most of the hour-long session at the top of the order, first on the hard tire and later on the softs, setting the benchmark at 1m11.355s just after the 35-minute mark.
Piastri was a late improver, setting his best time around 15 minutes later, with just over 10m remaining in the session, to get to within 0.038s of the leader with the benefit of track evolution. It was a strong recovery from the Australian, who made an uncharacteristic mistake around 20 minutes into FP2, locking up into the first turn, Sainte Devote, and crashing into the barrier.
Piastri had the awareness to strike the barrier directly after realizing he wasn’t about to make the corner, ensuring that his nosecone bore the brunt of the damage. It meant he was able to tiptoe back to pit lane without his front wing for repairs and return to the track after a limited delay, with a brief red flag pre-emptively deployed.
Lewis Hamilton completed the top three for Ferrari, the Briton’s quickest time only 0.105s slower than his session-topping teammate’s best effort, while Lando Norris made it an all-Ferrari-McLaren top four, though he was 0.322s off the pace.
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Racing Bulls teammates Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar were surprise inclusions in the top six, the teammates closely matched at more than 0.46s off the pace.
Hadjar had a scrappy session on his way to his lofty standing, though, crashing twice and causing one red flag. The Frenchman’s first error came just seven minutes into the hour when he clipped the apex barrier entering the chicane, breaking his rear-left wheel rim and popping off the tire.
He was able to return to the pits for rapid repairs under cover of red flags, but then ended his own session early after slapping the barrier at Sainte-Devote. Again he was able to limp back to the pits, but on this occasion there wasn’t time to get him back out onto the track.
“I am so stupid. I think I’m just dumb,” he radioed on his way back to the garage.
Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin ahead of Williams driver Alex Albon, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli and an out-of-sorts Max Verstappen, who was 0.713s off the pace.
The Red Bull Racing driver has been downcast about his chances this weekend and never looked competitive at any stage throughout FP2, a session he started by complaining about upshift problems and ended with an excursion at Mirabeau, where he struggled to find reverse before rejoining the track. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda was just 0.02s further back, beating George Russell, Carlos Sainz and Gabriel Bortoleto.
Oliver Bearman was 15th and will see the stewards after the session for an alleged red flag infringement. Nico Hulkenberg followed in 16th ahead of Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon.
Franco Colapinto completed the order more than 2s off the pace and 1s behind teammate Gasly.
Michael Lamonato
Having first joined the F1 press corps in 2012 by what he assumed was administrative error, Michael has since made himself one of the few Australian regulars in the press room. Graduating in print journalism and later radio, he worked his way from community media to Australia's ABC Grandstand as an F1 broadcaster, and his voice is now heard on the official Australian Grand Prix podcast, the F1 Strategy Report and Box of Neutrals. Though he'd prefer to be recognized for his F1 expertise, in parts of hometown Melbourne his reputation for once being sick in a kart will forever precede him.
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