Friday Report - Leclerc tops chaotic practice 2

Lewis Hamilton
© Ferrari

Charles Leclerc made it two-for-two on home soil by setting the fastest time in Friday’s second Formula 1 practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, edging McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by just 0.038 seconds in a crash-disrupted FP2.

The Ferrari driver, buoyed by topping FP1 earlier in the day, delivered a composed qualifying simulation midway through the hour to clock a best of 1m11.355s on soft tyres. That lap held firm through a session plagued by two red flags and several near misses on Monte Carlo’s tight street circuit.

Piastri had shown strong early pace for McLaren, leading the session before his costly off at Ste Devote 19 minutes in. The Australian locked up and slid straight into the tyre barriers, triggering the second red flag of the afternoon. Fortunately, the damage was minor, and Piastri returned to finish second-fastest after a quick repair job.

Before Piastri’s incident, Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar brought out the first stoppage by tagging the wall at the Nouvelle Chicane, puncturing his left-rear tyre. The Frenchman managed to limp back to the pits but later suffered another scrape with the barriers at Turn 1, ending his day with bent rear suspension despite finishing sixth fastest.

Lewis Hamilton continued Ferrari’s strong showing with third place, just over a tenth down on Leclerc, while Lando Norris completed a solid session for McLaren in fourth. In a surprise, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson slotted into fifth ahead of his team-mate Hadjar.

Fernando Alonso put Aston Martin seventh on the leaderboard ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon, with Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen rounding out the top ten. Verstappen endured a frustrating session, briefly going long at Turn 1 and later fuming over heavy traffic, calling the situation “so dangerous.”

The Dutchman narrowly edged team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, while Carlos Sainz, struggling on mediums, could do no better than 13th.

Oliver Bearman of Haas was summoned by race stewards after potentially failing to comply with red flag protocols during Piastri’s crash.

Saturday’s crucial qualifying session looms large where grid position could prove decisive on Monaco’s unforgiving streets