Charles Leclerc and Ferrari ended Friday on top at Formula 1’s 2024 Monaco Grand Prix – the home hero in command in FP2, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had another low-key Friday.
The FP2 long-run averages suggest the world champion and his team have a clear edge, yet this will count for very little if they cannot sort a better set-up ahead of qualifying. So far, for that critical Monaco session, Leclerc is predicted to dominate.
Adding to the mix on Friday was Mercedes and Aston Martin starting this event strongly with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. McLaren, meanwhile, is really yet to show its hand even over one lap after completing different run plans to most of the rest.
The story of the day
First practice at Monaco, as ever, was about building driver confidence, with the times falling around six seconds from initial benchmarks to 1m12.169s by the end of the first one-hour session.
That was set by Mercedes driver Hamilton, the Silver and Black Arrows squad benefitting from not having to compromise its set-up for low- and high-speed corners here as Monaco lacks any of the latter.
Leclerc then headed the times pretty much throughout FP2 – his pace on the mediums early on nearly a second quicker than the rest. But when the soft tyres went on for the qualifying simulation runs, not only did he go quicker but Verstappen couldn’t sneak ahead of Leclerc’s harder-compound previous personal best.
Hamilton ended Friday as Leclerc’s nearest challenger, as Mercedes appeared suited to the low-speed Monaco layout
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Both drivers then had complicated later attempts on the softs, with Leclerc having two oversteer moments at the hairpin and Portier – abandoning his lap after the second when he had just set FP2’s quickest time in the first sector.
Verstappen, meanwhile, had a few minutes earlier thwacked the barrier at the previous corner – Turn 7 beneath Mirabeau – with his left rear and had to pit to get things checked over.
He reappeared soon enough to join the long-run data gathering that typically ends FP2, albeit for a much shorter period at Monaco as in a dry Sunday event here – as is forecast – race pace matters much less given the overtaking challenge at this very narrow venue. Come the session’s end, the top two drivers in the championship were split by Hamilton and Alonso.
When comparing their quickest laps, Verstappen ships a tenth to Leclerc in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – Formula 1 – Stories…