Lewis Hamilton fastest from Oscar Piastri in red-flagged first Monaco GP practice
Lewis Hamilton set the pace from Oscar Piastri in opening practice at the F1 Monaco Grand Prix.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton led McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in a red-flagged opening practice session at the F1 Monaco Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion edged Piastri to the fastest time on soft tyres by just 0.029s, with Mercedes teammate George Russell third, just 0.126s off the pace.
Lando Norris was fourth in the second McLaren - which is sporting a special Ayrton Senna livery for this weekend’s race in Monte Carlo.
Home hero Charles Leclerc was fifth but set his best lap time on mediums, just over two tenths slower than Hamilton’s benchmark, after encouragingly heading a Ferrari 1-2 early doors.
Fernando Alonso was sixth ahead of Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll and the RB duo of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo, with Carlos Sainz rounding out the top-10.
It was a difficult session for Max Verstappen, who had a couple of hair-raising moments as he brushed Monaco’s famous barriers on his way to finishing 11th, one place ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
But like the Ferraris, neither Red Bull drivers used the soft tyres in FP1, meaning none of their final lap times were particularly representative.
The session was punctuated by a red flag in the closing stages when Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu hit the wall at the exit of Sainte Devote and lost part of his front wing.
Leclerc picked up a bit of damage to his floor running over the debris strewn across the track, which ultimately prompted the red flag.
Pierre Gasly was left garage-bound for most of FP1 after encountering a wastegaste issue on his Alpine.
