Charles Leclerc ended the first day of practice for his home grand prix in Monaco quickest of all just ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
The Ferrari driver set the best lap with a 1’11.278, just under two tenths slower than Hamilton.Fernando Alonso was third-fastest for Aston Martin, with Max Verstappen continuing to complain about the handling of his Red Bull in fourth.
Drivers enjoyed a second dry session with no rain falling despite the build up of cloud cover following the earlier first practice session. All 20 cars were quickly out on track, with Leclerc posting the best time of the early phase of the session with a 1’11.278 on the softs, half a second quicker than Verstappen.
After his early struggles with balance in the opening session, Verstappen continued to battle with his Red Bull. He complained about the stiff ride of his car giving him “headaches”, while team mate Sergio Perez also reported he was struggling to see the approach to Massenet due to the vibrations he was experiencing in the car.
Several drivers brushed the walls over the course of the hour, starting with Logan Sargeant who bumped into barrier at Anthony Noghes, leading Williams to call him in to examine his car. Oscar Piastri glanced the inside barrier at the exit of the Swimming Pool, with Esteban Ocon testing the rigidity of the barrier on the exit of the sequence. All avoided any significant damage to their respective cars.
Leclerc’s best time remained the benchmark as many moved their focus onto higher fuel runs. Fortunately, the final quarter of the hour elapsed without any notable incident, leaving Leclerc at the top of the times, a tenth of a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Fernando Alonso was third-fastest for Aston Martin, just under half a second slower than Leclerc’s best, with Verstappen fourth in the Red Bull. Lando Norris was fifth ahead of Carlos Sainz Jnr, Lance Stroll and Perez in eighth. The top ten was completed by Alexander Albon and George Russell in the second Mercedes.
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2024 Monaco Grand Prix second practice result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’11.278 | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | W15 | 1’11.466 | 0.188 |
| 3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 1’11.753 | 0.475 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’11.813 | 0.535 |
| 5 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’11.953 | 0.675 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’11.962 | 0.684 |
| 7 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 1’12.062 | 0.784 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’12.099 | 0.821 |
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’12.257 | 0.979 |
| 10 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W15 | 1’12.260 | 0.982 |
| 11 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’12.349 | 1.071 |
| 12 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’12.366 | 1.088 |
| 13 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’12.473 | 1.195 |
| 14 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 1’12.554 | 1.276 |
| 15 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’12.569 | 1.291 |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’12.577 | 1.299 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 1’12.750 | 1.472 |
| 18 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’12.790 | 1.512 |
| 19 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 1’13.057 | 1.779 |
| 20 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 1’13.773 | 2.495 |
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2024 Monaco Grand Prix
- Formula 1 will fix red flag rule loophole which ruined Monaco GP – Domenicali
- Magnussen ‘could have backed off but didn’t’ in Monaco crash, says team boss
- Ocon defends his driving after ‘hurtful abuse’ over Monaco GP crash with Gasly
- How the midfield’s hottest team mate rivalry boiled over
- “He’s really dangerous”: Unheard driver radio from F1’s slow show in Monaco
bonbonjai
24th May 2024, 17:24
Is Red Bull and Max’s jinx at road tracks about to strike again, or should I just keep quiet and only say that after fp3?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
24th May 2024, 17:53
Well, you see they already improved compared to fp1, I think verstappen is way too close to rule him out of pole position and might be even closer in fp3.
bonbonjai
24th May 2024, 18:01
Leclerc and Lewis have been on it since FP1 and aound Monaco confidence and building up the FP3 & quali is key. Max when he has to push as he will almost certainly have to from FP3 if they sort out the cars skittish setup then confidence might not be there. If they get the setup right as I think they will quali could be very interesting. Leclerc, Lewis, Alonso, Norris, Piastri, Russell .. Now that could be something as here the driver can be the difference.
Azwing
24th May 2024, 18:39
Would you please, please, please put the tires used in the results table (and all such tables for practices)?
DaveW (@dmw)
24th May 2024, 22:08
I know we hate Monaco now. But seeing these giant cars decelerate to st. Devote when they look like they have no chance of making the corner and then rocket up to casino weaving like honeybees is still amazing.
André
24th May 2024, 23:03
The top 5 best drivers on the grid.