F1 Monaco LIVE: Times tumble as Ferrari lead FP1

We're under 75 seconds, as Leclerc puts in a 1m14.928s. His hards are 19 laps old, so unlike Verstappen's Red Bull, the Ferrari is able to keep its tyres alive a little longer. 

"My tyres are completely dead," reports Verstappen. His hard tyres have lasted just 15 laps. 

Antonelli has now put on a set of mediums.

The errors are beginning to creep in, as Leclerc narrowly avoids a costly brush with the barriers, and Piastri slows unexpectedly. 

Hamilton then comes close to a collision with an Alpine, before losing the rear at the chicance. He improved to second place, but that was a very loose car. 

As the pits become busy with drivers coming in for minor tweaks before heading straight back out, Antonelli bangs in a lap to put himself in P2. 

Slowest of all, Bortoleto appears to be struggling in the early stages, something only highlighted more by Hulkenberg's sixth-place ranking. 

There's Leclerc, putting in a 1m15.060 on 10-lap old hards, besting Hamilton's previous best by six tenths. 

Hadjar is now complaining that the bumps on the way up the hill are causing significant bouncing, making his Red Bull "undrivable". But this is Monaco, and the bumps are all part of it. 

All is not well at Haas, as Ocon and Bearman have a public dispute on the radio, with the pair getting very close on the track. It appeared that Bearman was holding up his team-mate, but the Briton viewed things differently. 

The times continue to fall, with the Mercedes pair entering the top 10. A few cars are now running with medium rubber, including the Cadillac pair. Stroll is no finally back out on the track, with mediums, after a lengthy spell in the garage. 

Showing strong early pace, Perez is fifth for Cadillac! Antonelli is P8 for Mercedes, with Russell P15. 

On the hards, the times aren't entirely relevant right now, but Hamilton is fastest with a 1m15.892s effort. Verstappen, Piastri, and Norris follow.

Lawson is reporting the same steering issue as Lindblad at the hairpin. You can see they're using full lock but only just make it around with the widest entry, so this is a problem, and not one that could easily be fixed during the session. 

Aside from a lap on mediums for Stroll, all the remaining 21 drivers are on hard tyres, rubbering in the track, and showing the usual case of the hards not being needed for the race. 

That's a concern for Lindblad. "I don't think I've got enough steering lock for the hairpin," he reports. However, he makes it around the corner, so case closed, maybe. 

Into the run-off goes Leclerc at Mirabeau. It's an out lap, and he locked the fronts at very low speed. 

Sergio Perez is the first driver out on the track, but the rest of the 22-driver field is quick to follow the Cadillac driver out of the pits. 

FP1 is go!

The music has played, and two minutes remain before lights out on FP1. Here we go!

It's entirely possible that there are worse commutes...

Russell is determined to battle back from his Canadian GP disappointment and maintains that taking every pole and winning every race will still give him the championship. While this is true, even he would concede that the task has become more difficult as each race passes. 

Little winglets have been appearing on the rear wings this weekend, and Mercedes has provided this handy explainer on the devices and why they are showing up now. 

Less than half an hour remains before the cars take to the track for the first time this weekend, and we can't wait!

Given that Monaco is a unique track on the calendar, it is always interesting to see which teams bring the most new parts. McLaren leads the charge this year, but you can find a full list of the upgrades here.

McLaren has led Formula 1’s development charge by bringing a host of new upgrades to this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Amid a major regulation overhaul for the 2026 season, the F1 development race is panning out at a relentless rate. Most teams brought their first substantial upgrades to the Miami Grand Prix following an enforced break in April, with Mercedes introducing a big package at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Full story!

If you weren't following Thursday's 'media day' offerings, we'll round out a few of the key notes for you. 

Firstly, Fernando Alonso offered a bleak warning for Aston Martin's prospects, suggesting the team “probably cannot race” if a quick solution cannot be found to the "random" downshifts he has suffered so far this term. 

‘Probably we can’t race’ - Fernando Alonso’s bleak outlook for Aston Martin at F1 Monaco GP

Fernando Alonso has suggested that the Aston Martin Formula 1 team may not be able to race in this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix due to a gearbox problem.

Having fixed a Honda-engine related reliability problem that sent painful vibrations into the Aston Martin drivers' hands during the opening rounds of the season, a new urgent issue has been uncovered on the AMR26.

Full story here!