Tag: Monaco GP

Leclerc driving through tears at Monaco – ‘You cannot do that now!’

Charles Leclerc says he had tears in his eyes during the closing laps of the Monaco Grand Prix once he knew he was gong to win his home race for the first time. The Ferrari driver has taken pole position three times in Monaco but on each of the …

Charles Leclerc says he had tears in his eyes during the closing laps of the Monaco Grand Prix once he knew he was gong to win his home race for the first time.

The Ferrari driver has taken pole position three times in Monaco but on each of the previous two occasions he was unable to even finish on the podium — failing to start in 2021 and dropping to fourth due to a strategic error a year later. There was no stopping him on the third attempt, however, as Leclerc led from lights to flag but admits the enormity of the moment was setting in long before the finish.

“I think where I struggled the most to contain my emotions was during the last 10 laps of the race, more than on the podium,” Leclerc said.

“I realized…two laps to the end that I was struggling to see out of the tunnel just because I had tears in my eyes, and I was like ‘[Exlpetive] Charles, you cannot do that now; you still have two laps to finish!’ Especially on a track like Monaco, you have to be on it all the way to the end.

“[Containing those emotions] was very difficult, those thoughts again of the people that have helped me get to where I am today. It’s only a win. The season is still very, very long. It’s 25 points like any other win, however, emotionally, this one means so much.

“I think the fact as well that we’ve started twice from pole position in the past and that we couldn’t manage to get the win for one reason or another, that we couldn’t really control, not in our control, makes this one even more so special.”

Leclerc lost his father back in 2017 when he was on the way to winning the Formula 2 championship, a year before his promotion to Formula 1. Having enjoyed huge support and been close to his father, he says the importance of the win from that perspective was also on his mind.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“Obviously Monza in 2019 was extremely special, but Monaco is the grand prix that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver,” he said. “I remember being so young and watching the race with my friends. Obviously with my father, that has done absolutely everything for me to get to where I am today. I feel like I didn’t only accomplish a dream of mine today, but also one of his.

“It’s just such a special weekend overall. It’s a street track, it’s such a difficult track to put everything together from FP1 to qualifying, to all the laps that you have to do in the race. To finally make it in front of my whole family, my friends that were watching all over the track is a very, very, very special thing.

“[My father] was very much in my mind, as I said. I think in every race I have done, there has not been one single race where I was thinking about this kind of personal stuff inside the car, because you’ve got to stay on it. Maybe Baku in 2017, obviously everything was still very fresh for me, so it was difficult to manage mentally.

“However it’s probably the first time in my career that it happened again while driving, when you’ve got these flashbacks of all these moments that we have spent together, all the sacrifices that he has done for me to get to where I am.”

Leclerc ends Monaco curse with long-awaited home win

Charles Leclerc cruised to his maiden Monaco Grand Prix victory after a carnage-strewn first lap suspended the race for more than 40 minutes. Leclerc got away cleanly from pole position, but the race lasted only a few seconds before an enormous …

Charles Leclerc cruised to his maiden Monaco Grand Prix victory after a carnage-strewn first lap suspended the race for more than 40 minutes.

Leclerc got away cleanly from pole position, but the race lasted only a few seconds before an enormous three-car pile-up on the road to Massenet caused an immediate red flag.

Sergio Perez found himself bottled at the first corner and lacked momentum running up the hill. Kevin Magnussen, starting last, saw the slimmest of overtaking chances around his outside as they charged towards Massenet.

But the narrow space to Perez’s right disappeared as the road kinked towards Turn 2. Magnussen already had his front axle alongside the Red Bull car, and the two made catastrophic contact.

Perez was tipped out of control, with Magnussen’s momentum ploughing the RB20 into the barrier. The Mexican then ricocheted back onto the circuit, three of his four wheels missing, and collected Nico Hulkenberg before all three cars came to rest in a heap at Massenet. The stewards opted against opening an investigation into the first-lap incident.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

A delay ensued for barrier repairs and track cleaning, after which the race resumed with a standing restart based on the order the cars had passed the second safety car line where the pit lane rejoins the track.

It was good news for Sainz, whose race had appeared over after light contact with Oscar Piastri had left him stopped on track at Casino Square with a front-left puncture. He was allowed to take the restart from third after repairs.

Pierre Gasly was also a major beneficiary after being punted into the barriers at Portier by teammate Esteban Ocon.

Ocon ambitiously dived down the inside in a botched attempt to take 10th place but ended up crunching the sister car against the barriers. His own car was launched high into the air by the contact and sustained too much damage when it slammed back onto the ground to take the restart.

Gasly was able to continue after repairs during the red flag and restarted 10th, his hope for points still alive.

Ocon was slapped with a five-place grid drop at the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix for causing the smash.

The restart got underway with notably less drama than the original launch, with just two position changes on the first lap and no reported contact.

With 15 of the 16 drivers having made their mandatory tire changes during the red flag — Logan Sargeant was the exception — Leclerc at the head of the field set a dawdling pace to ensure his hard tires could make it to the end of the race without invoking pit stop strategy that could threaten his hold on top spot.

Piastri occasionally attempted to pressure Leclerc into a mistake, but the Monegasque was steadfast in his go-slow strategy, increasing his speed only incrementally through the race as his fuel load burnt off.

The meandering pace made for soporific viewing but worked a treat for the Leclerc, who at the third time of asking converted pole position to victory at his home grand prix with an ultimately comfortable 7.1s margin over Piastri.

“No words can explain that,” a relieved and emotional Leclerc said. “It’s such a difficult race.

“I think the fact that twice I’ve started on pole position and couldn’t quite make it makes it even better in a way.

“It means a lot. It’s the race that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver one day.”

Piastri came under late pressure from Sainz but allowed for now way through for the Spaniard to collect a career-best second-place finish.

“Tricky race,” he said. “The pace at the beginning was incredibly slow. I had one little half-look [at Leclerc] before the tunnel but didn’t have a small enough car to fit into a gap.

“Thanks to the whole team. It’s been a great weekend all round. It’s nice to finally put a result on the board – we’ve been very strong for the last few weekends but didn’t have the results to show for it.”

Sainz capitalized on the good fortune of being able to take the restart by claiming third place, his third podium in the principality.

“It was obviously a very bad feeling there in lap 1 that very quickly turned into a good feeling after being reinstated in P3,” he said. “The race pace was as good as expected, but it’s just impossible to get past on the streets of Monaco.

Lando Norris finished an unchallenged fourth ahead of George Russell, who spent most of the race lapping at an even slower pace than the hard-shod leaders to preserve his medium tires, which were marginal to make it to the finish.

The strategy proved a good call when Max Verstappen found space to pit into with 26 laps to run, taking a practically new set of hards to sternly challenge Russell for position late, though to no avail.

Lewis Hamilton likewise made a late stop — though he was frustrated not to have been told to push harder on his out-lap to try to jump Verstappen, who stopped one lap later — to finish seventh.

Yuki Tsunoda collected another four points from eighth ahead of Alex Albon, who scored Williams’s first points of the season in ninth.

Pierre Gasly completed the top 10 for his first score of the season.

Fernando Alonso finished 11th after backing up the pack to allow teammate Lance Stroll to make a free pit stop, though the plan came to nothing when the Canadian punctured his tires against the barriers at the chicane.

Stroll has to pit again, dropping him to 14th behind Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas.

Logan Sargeant finished 15th ahead of Zhou Guanyu in 16th and last among the finishers.

Ocon hit with grid penalty for next race after Gasly clash

Esteban Ocon has been given a five-place grid penalty for his next race for causing a collision with teammate Pierre Gasly at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix. Ocon attempted to overtake Gasly down the inside of Portier on the opening lap, but the …

Esteban Ocon has been given a five-place grid penalty for his next race for causing a collision with teammate Pierre Gasly at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Ocon attempted to overtake Gasly down the inside of Portier on the opening lap, but the pair collided on the exit before entering the tunnel. With Gasly unable to go any wider due to the presence of the barrier, Ocon’s left rear wheel hit his team-mate’s front left, launching Ocon into the air and damaging his car to the extent that he had to retire despite a red flag period.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

The stewards deemed Ocon to be wholly at fault for the incident, and handed him a 10-second time penalty that is converted into a grid drop of five positions at his next race.

“It was clear to us that the collision was caused solely by the overly ambitious overtaking attempt, from too far back, by Car 31 and was therefore wholly to blame for the incident,” the stewards’ decision read.

Team principal Bruno Famin also squarely blamed Ocon for the move on French television, with his driver accepting it was his error on social media having reviewed the collision.

“Today’s incident was my fault,” Ocon said. “The gap was too small in the end and I apologize to the team on this one. Hoping for a deserved points-finish for the team today.”

Ocon had earlier suggested it was one of his only chances to make progress into the points given the difficulty overtaking in Monaco.

“You know, you have to take care, but in the same time, we are doing 120% to be trying to get inside the top 10, for me, for Pierre,” He said. “We saw it yesterday, we pushed to the limit a lot in qualifying. Mistakes happen. That’s it.

“As we usually do … We review everything for sure, we try and do better for the next one.”

The stewards opted against investigating a bigger first-lap crash between Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez that brought out the red flag, with Nico Hulkenberg also eliminated.

Piastri targeting Monaco victory after front row commitment

Oscar Piastri believes his qualifying performance at the last two races have shown his confidence to be committed on tough circuits and is targeting victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc secured pole position in Monaco with Piastri …

Oscar Piastri believes his qualifying performance at the last two races have shown his confidence to be committed on tough circuits and is targeting victory at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc secured pole position in Monaco with Piastri second on the street circuit, following the same performance in Imola a week ago. On that first occasion, Piastri lost his front row starting spot due to an impeding incident earlier in the session, but he says both tracks have similarities that allow him to display how confident he is with the upgraded McLaren.

“I think we came into this weekend pretty confident that we could be in the fight for pole and the win again,” Piastri said. “Going into qualifying, maybe we weren’t as convinced this week. But no, it felt good. Pretty hooked up in qualifying.

“And I think for me, we say Imola and Monaco are very different circuits, but both of them need a lot of commitment. Imola you get it a bit wrong, you’re in the gravel trap and the wall. Here there’s no gravel trap, it’s just the wall, so they’re both two pretty big commitment tracks, obviously here being a step above everywhere — maybe a bit more similar than people think.”

With Leclerc on the inside and a short distance to Turn 1, Piastri still believes he has a shot at taking the lead at the start, or through the pit stop phase to beat the Ferrari.

“The run to Turn 1 is always your best chance at any track,” he said. “Here, obviously, it’s a very short run. You can try something with [the strategy], because…unless there’s a massive pace difference — which I’m pretty sure there won’t be — then overtaking is impossible here. It’ll be won or lost in the pits probably, so [we’ll] make sure we have a good day.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Piastri’s teammate was still positive about starting from fourth despite missing out on the front row, as Norris highlighted an unusual issue that affected him early in the session.

“Oscar finished second, so he did a good job,” Norris said. “But he’s been doing a very good job all weekend, to be honest. I think I’m very happy, as a team we should be happy with a second and fourth at a street circuit and to be as close to Ferrari as we were. We knew they would be close to the favorites this weekend, so to split them and have Oscar there I think is a good sign.

“Of course I would love to have had P3, but it’s such a small margin, such a little bit of lap time here or there, although misjudging something by the smallest amount can cost you. I’m still happy I got more in rhythm come Q3.

“Q1 was a bit stressful because part of stickers from the barriers came off and got stuck under my car, which then cost me the tires and things like that. It was a bit of a mess, but [things happen] in F1 because it could have cost me my whole weekend. I was lucky to get through, otherwise I think it was a good day for us.”

Norris says F1 and the FIA did not listen to driver concerns about the advertising that was getting ripped off the barriers on regular occasions during the weekend.

“I had to pit to get it off,” he said. “It just shouldn’t happen in Formula 1. It’s a bit silly in my opinion; we said it would happen yesterday and they said they were going to fix it but obviously it wasn’t fixed. It’s a shame that you have to get lucky; I was lucky that I had enough time, otherwise it would have ruined my qualifying and my whole weekend.

“There is nothing I can do. It can only ruin your race at the minute. They need to come up with a better solution than just stickers because of course we are touching the wall and all this stuff, but it’s not acceptable that this can ruin your whole weekend, just for some stickers and things like that. They need to find a better solution.”

I can’t be disappointed in P6 with Perez 18th – Verstappen

Max Verstappen says he can’t be disappointed with a top-six starting position at the Monaco Grand Prix given the fact his teammate Sergio Perez is 18th on the grid. Perez dropped out in Q1 as Red Bull’s struggles in Monaco really came to the fore in …

Max Verstappen says he can’t be disappointed with a top-six starting position at the Monaco Grand Prix given the fact his teammate Sergio Perez is 18th on the grid.

Perez dropped out in Q1 as Red Bull’s struggles in Monaco really came to the fore in qualifying, the Mexican just over half a second off the fastest time but ahead of only the two Stake cars. Verstappen remained in the mix for pole position throughout until the final run in Q3 when he aborted after catching a slide at the first corner, and ended up on the third row.

“I’m pushing flat out,” said Verstappen (pictured at left, above, with Perez and safety car driver Bernd Maylander). “The car is just super tricky — went into Turn 1, suddenly I go over the bumps and it just snaps on you. There’s nothing that was a big mistake but the car is literally on a knife’s edge to drive.

“I mean, I felt quite comfortable, in terms of, I would say medium to high speed the car is quite quick. But everywhere there is bumps it was just jumping around a lot, so I’m driving around that, trying to optimize everything.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“It’s really difficult to control, so I was surprised for most of qualifying that we were quite close but I guess some (drivers) didn’t nail the lap or whatever. It’s always ‘if, if, if.’ I’m not disappointed with my laps or trying to improve more — just look at where we are, we are P18 and P6.

“Normally Checo is very good around a street circuit — he really comes alive there, I think it already says enough that he’s in that position, so I cannot be disappointed with P6 in that sense.”

Verstappen says the problem Red Bull has is an inability for its car to handle bumps and curbs, with Monaco placing an emphasis on those aspects.

“We tried a lot of things on the car, literally nothing made it better, so you’re just stuck,” he said. “Not much you can do. You can see in the second sector we are so bad, just because I can’t touch any curbs as it just upsets the car too much. We just lose a lot of lap time and it’s incredibly difficult.

“I tried — we went soft, stiff, everything, but the car is like a go-kart, it’s like I’m running without suspension. It’s jumping around a lot, not absorbing any curb strikes or bumps or camber changes… The last corner I think the amount of times I just jumped almost into the wall is really incredible.

“It’s also not something new — I mean, we’ve had this problem since 2022. Of course for the last years I think we had a car advantage and it gets masked a little bit as we gain in the corners where the curbs and the bumps are not that much of a limitation, but with everyone catching up, naturally when you’re not improving your weakest point you get found out, and that’s what happened this weekend.

“It’s a fundamental problem, so it’s not something that will be fixed within weeks.”

UPDATED: Haas F1 cars excluded from Monaco GP qualifying over DRS breach

Both Haas F1 cars have been excluded from qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix after failing a technical check relating to their DRS. Nico Hulkenberg qualified in 12th place and Kevin Magnussen 15th as both drivers advanced to Q2, but were then found …

Both Haas F1 cars have been excluded from qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix after failing a technical check relating to their DRS.

Nico Hulkenberg qualified in 12th place and Kevin Magnussen 15th as both drivers advanced to Q2, but were then found to not be in conformity with the technical regulations after the end of the session.

FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer’s findings read:

“The uppermost rear wing element adjustable positions were checked on car numbers 20 and 27. The left-hand side and right-hand side outermost area of the of the adjustable elements were exceeding the maximum allowed 85mm on both cars. As this is not in compliance with TR Article 3.10.10 h), I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

After an investigation from the stewards, Haas admitted it had made an operational error with new parts brought to this race, configuring them in the same way they had the previous rear wing at earlier races.

“The team explained that this was the consequence of an inadvertent error on their part in setting the wing flap gap. The wing used was a new design that was used for the first time in Monaco. The old design was set to be compliant with the regulations with the largest gap measured from the center of the wing. Under the new design, the largest gap was at the extremities of the wing but the team had not trained its mechanics to set the gap per the new design, resulting in the non-compliance.

“The duty to comply strictly with the Technical Regulations rests at all times with the Competitor. The team suggested that there was no performance advantage gained by the non-compliance. Article 1.3.3 of the International Sporting Code makes it clear that this is irrelevant.

“The team was candid in admitting its error. The wing was otherwise compliant with the Technical Regulations and the FIA technical team confirmed that they were satisfied with the team’s explanation for the error.”

As the exclusion leads to both cars not having valid lap times in qualifying, they have been permitted to start the race at the back of the grid by the stewards due to satisfactory performance shown during practice sessions this weekend.

Leclerc focusing forward as he looks to end Monaco race drought

Charles Leclerc says his focus is already switching to trying to convert pole position into victory having yet to finish on the podium at the Monaco Grand Prix. Saturday’s impressive qualifying performance – in which Leclerc did two laps good enough …

Charles Leclerc says his focus is already switching to trying to convert pole position into victory having yet to finish on the podium at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Saturday’s impressive qualifying performance — in which Leclerc did two laps good enough for pole position — delivered his third pole at his home race. However, on one of those occasions he failed to start and in the other, a strategic error relegate him from the lead to fourth. Leclerc has never finished in the top three even in a junior race in Monaco — a target he admits he’s already focusing on despite how special the qualifying result felt.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“It feels as good as the first one,” Leclerc said. “I think in Monaco, the emotions you get, the tension that you have before getting into the car is so much more than anywhere else on the calendar. So yeah, once you finish a lap and you hear that you’re on pole position, it’s always a very special feeling.

“However, maybe in the past the emotions were staying for longer. But now obviously having started twice on pole and not bringing the victory — which is at the end what matters most — is where my mind is at at the moment, just trying to prepare and make everything possible.

“It’s been a rollercoaster. The weekend has been incredible, until after FP3 when there was an issue with my engine and there was an engine swap at the very last minute, which was quite tricky. But fortunately for me, there wasn’t any consequences on my weekend.”

Leclerc acknowledges the main part of the job is done by securing pole position, given the weather forecast is dry for Sunday, and insists he doesn’t believe the previous failings add to the pressure in the race.

“No, not at all. I think the peak of the tension actually of the whole season I would say is in qualifying in Monaco. Then for the race, it’s not like you are more relaxed, but… well yeah, you are more relaxed! Just because the race, you’ve got to focus on the start, you’ve got to focus around the pit stop — because obviously the laps around the pit stop are very important — but the qualifying in Monaco is a big part of the job.

“It is true in the past we didn’t have the success that we wanted. But I don’t want to think about that anymore. And I’m pretty sure that it will be a good one this weekend.”

Leclerc ends Verstappen streak with Monaco pole

Charles Leclerc claimed his third Monte Carlo pole position after beating Oscar Piastri to top spot in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. Leclerc started qualifying as the overwhelming favorite for the most valuable pole position of the season, …

Charles Leclerc claimed his third Monte Carlo pole position after beating Oscar Piastri to top spot in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Leclerc started qualifying as the overwhelming favorite for the most valuable pole position of the season, but fifth and fourth in Q1 and Q2 left the door open for a surprise result at the crunch.

The Monegasque driver was only biding his time, however, and hit his stride in Q3. A pair of sizzling laps, both ultimately quick enough to take pole position, rocketed him to top spot ahead of the plucky Piastri, his final tour setting the benchmark at an unimpeachable 1m10.270s to beat the Australian by 0.154s.

”It was nice,” Leclerc said of his third home pole. “The feeling after a qualifying lap is always very special here.

“I’m really, really happy about the lap. The excitement is so high. It feels really good.”

But Leclerc’s satisfaction was tempered by his two previous failures to convert pole to victory at home, and he emphasized that his job was only half complete despite the statistical importance of starting from first place.

“I know more often than not in the past qualifying is not everything,” he said. “We need to put everything together.

“In the past years we didn’t manage to do so, but we’re a stronger team, we’re in a stronger position, and I’m sure we can achieve great things tomorrow. The win is the target.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Piastri emerged as Leclerc’s closest challenger after a quiet but steady build-up through the weekend in his one-off yellow McLaren. The Australian was pleased to secure his first front-row start of the season, though he thought a cleaner lap could have secured him his maiden pole position.

“I think if you took the second half of my first lap in Q3 and the first half of the second one, it would’ve been enough,” he said. “Just a couple of mistakes at the end.

“Credit to Charles — he’s been incredibly quick all weekend. At certain points I don’t think anyone thought we were going to get close to him.”

Carlos Sainz recovered from a lackluster series of practice sessions to qualify third, closing the gap to Leclerc to a relatively modest 0.248s, but the Spaniard lamented his gains came too late to contend for pole.

“I’ve been struggling all weekend with confidence and feeling with the car,” he said. “P3 was a step forward.

“I’m not entirely happy, because I wish I could’ve been fighting for pole position, but the truth is Charles has been doing an outstanding job. The car has been amazing all weekend, and he managed to extract the most from it, so I’m happy for him.”

Lando Norris was 0.024s behind Sainz to qualify fourth, with George Russell just 0.001s further back in fifth.

Max Verstappen endured the dire result he said he’d been braced for, slumping to sixth on the grid and 0.297s off the pace. The Dutchman lamented that his car was fundamentally mismatched to the curb-riding, bump-grinding Monaco circuit.

Lewis Hamilton qualified seventh ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the Japanese driver’s sixth Q3 appearance in the last seven races. Alex Albon was ninth for Williams in his first top-10 appearance of the year but faces a post-session investigation for impeding Sainz at Massenet in Q1.

Pierre Gasly took Alpine into Q3 for the first time this season to qualify 10th. His teammate Esteban Ocon, third on the grid this time last year, was knocked out 11th, falling short by just 0.069s of a spot in the top 10.

Nico Hulkenberg was the lead Haas driver in 12th but will face a post-session investigation for traveling slowly on the racing line into Casino Square early in Q2 and obstructing Ocon.

RB’s Daniel Ricciardo lamented being unable to fire up his tires to follow teammate Tsunoda into Q3, leaving him 13th.

Lance Stroll will start 14th for Aston Martin ahead of Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas machine.

Fernando Alonso suffered his second consecutive Q1 knockout. After qualifying 19th in Imola last weekend, the two-time Monaco winner bombed out in 16th, his Aston Martin a relatively beefy 0.132s shy of a Q2 berth in an otherwise close session.

But Sergio Perez was a considerably bigger scalp, the Mexican fumbling his way to 18th as he struggled to overcome Red Bull Racing’s inherent problems with the Monte Carlo circuit. Perez was 0.173s short of a spot in Q2 and only 0.349s slower than teammate Verstappen, a poor final sector on his last flying lap costing him a top-15 grid spot.

“What a joke,” he laughed to himself over team radio.

Between the two fallen front-runners slotted Logan Sargeant, in 17th, only 0.001s slower than Alonso.

Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were 19th and 20th on a dreadful afternoon for the future Audi team, qualifying more than a second off the pace and more than 0.5s behind the back of the pack.

Leclerc dominates final Monaco practice

Charles Leclerc topped final practice at the Monaco Grand Prix with foreboding ease ahead of the most consequential qualifying session of the season. Leclerc set the pre-qualifying benchmark at 1m11.369s with around 15 minutes still to run in FP3, a …

Charles Leclerc topped final practice at the Monaco Grand Prix with foreboding ease ahead of the most consequential qualifying session of the season.

Leclerc set the pre-qualifying benchmark at 1m11.369s with around 15 minutes still to run in FP3, a time that gave him a margin of more than half a second over the rest of the field until the final minutes of the hour despite a mistake in the final sector.

It took until the last five minutes for Max Verstappen to chip away at the margin and close to 0.197s of the Monaco native, but by then the comparison had become unrepresentative, the track having improved markedly with the extensive soft-tire running conducted by every team.

It was a taxing effort for the Dutchman, too, who had to wring the neck of his recalcitrant RB20 just to get to within touching distance.

“If I do more laps like that, I’ll end up in the fence,” he radioed his team.

Red Bull Racing is battling what appears to be a fundamental mismatch between its car and the street circuit, and earlier in the session Verstappen suggested that inherent issue remained at large.

“I know where we can gain time,” he said. “It’s just not possible. We know why.”

Verstappen will also face a post-session investigation for driving unnecessarily slowly in an encounter with heavy traffic that spoiled one of his flying laps late in the hour.

Teammate Sergio Perez, who finished fifth and 0.554s off the pace, was more blunt in his assessment.

“We have a lot of work to do,” he said. “The car is nowhere.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Lewis Hamilton continued his good form in Monte Carlo to lap 0.341s off the pace, while Oscar Piastri impressed for McLaren in fourth and 0.532s adrift of Leclerc’s headline time.

Perez struggled to fifth ahead of George Russell, who suggested the steering vibrations that afflicted him on Friday had been cured but was left battling a steering rack that was heavier turning right than left.

The Briton will also have to see the stewards for impeding Lando Norris on a fast lap. The Mercedes driver was crawling slowly out of the tunnel when the McLaren rushed up behind him and was forced to take evasive action to avoid what would have been an enormous crash at one of the fastest points on the circuit.

Carlos Sainz remained a way off his imperious teammate in the sister Ferrari. Despite clinging close to Leclerc early, by the end of the session he was blitzed by a whopping 0.61s.

Norris was eighth, just 0.009s behind Sainz and only 0.003s ahead of an excellent Yuki Tsunoda for RB.

Fernando Alonso completed the top 10, but yesterday’s third-placed driver slumped to 0.718s adrift, a time more representative of Aston Martin’s capacity at this circuit.

Pierre Gasly headed Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Keving Magnussen, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Logan Sargeant, Daniel Ricciardo and Zhou Guanyu down to 19th.

Valtteri Bottas completed just two laps before crashing exiting the Swimming Pool chicane, shattering his Stake Sauber’s right-front suspension. The Finn was able to crawl as far as Rascasse but no further, causing a brief red flag to recover his car.

His team will have little more than two hours before qualifying to fix the car, with marshals leaving it parked outside the track for the remainder of the session.

 

On-form Leclerc promises more to come at Monaco

Charles Leclerc says there is more pace in his driving and that he didn’t put together clean laps despite setting the fastest time of Friday practice at the Monaco Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was quickest in FP1 but Leclerc then pulled clear of the …

Charles Leclerc says there is more pace in his driving and that he didn’t put together clean laps despite setting the fastest time of Friday practice at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton was quickest in FP1 but Leclerc then pulled clear of the field in the second session, posting a 1m11.278s that eclipsed last year’s pole time and left him nearly 0.2s clear of his future Ferrari teammate. That time came on the soft compound tire but Leclerc says he wasn’t happy with his performance during that run, and believes there is plenty of room for improvement.

“I think on the mediums we were really strong,” Leclerc said. “On the soft, we struggled to put everything together. There was a lot of traffic all the way, but all in all, we have a good car for the moment. I feel quite confident with the car. However, it’s super-important that we keep this rhythm into FP3 because it’s the way Monaco is.

“I might have taken more risk compared to the others today, which paid off. However, it’s all about tomorrow when everybody starts to go on the limit. Until now, we have done a really good job. We need to keep working, keep focusing on ourselves, but it’s a positive first day.

“There is more pace in me just putting everything together. If you look at my three sectors, there was a quite a bit of lap time in them when you put all of it together. So that will be the main focus for tomorrow, but let’s say that the performance and feeling is there.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Although Red Bull is struggling, with Max Verstappen saying there is no obvious fix for the team as its car inherently doesn’t work on the Monaco circuit, Leclerc says he’s not taking anything for granted.

“I think we arrived here knowing that anything was possible,” he said. “In 2021, we didn’t have a good car but coming into Monaco the characteristics of our car were fitting that very particular track well and we were fast.

“This weekend we seem fast. Mercedes have been struggling since the beginning of the season but they are very fast this weekend, so we expect them to be just the same tomorrow. Lewis has been on it all day, so we have got to maximize everything tomorrow and hopefully we’ll put it on pole.

“I’ve had two [Monaco] poles in the past, but then the Sunday result was not the one I wanted. So if we manage to do so, which is the best starting place for Sunday, we’ll have to focus well on Sunday in order to put everything together and to finally get that win.”