Leclerc stays on top in second practice as Hadjar crashes twice

Charles Leclerc topped both practice sessions for the Monaco Grand Prix on Friday, though more red flags flew in the second hour.

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The Ferrari driver set a best time of 1’11.355, which was a few hundredths of a second slower than he managed when he topped the same session a year ago.

Two drivers caused red flags in the second hour of practice but both set times quick enough to claim places in the top six. Oscar Piastri, who lapped just three hundredths of a second off Leclerc, was one of them.

He triggered the session’s second red flag when he crashed at Sainte Devote. The championship leader grabbed his front-right brake as he slowed for the corner and opted to hit the barrier square-on rather than attempt a risky swerve into the escape road. It cost him his front wing but he was easily able to drive back and continue in the session once it restarted again.

Isack Hadjar caused the session’s first red flag when he clipped the barrier at the apex of the harbour-front chicane. The impact damaged his left-rear wheel and pitched him into a spin, though he was able to drag his car back to the pits for repairs while the session was temporarily halted.

That wasn’t his only slip-up. Towards the end of the session he also hit the barrier at Sainte-Devote, with the same left-rear corner again.

“Man, I am so stupid,” he told his team on the radio. “I think I am just dumb.” This time his rear suspension was more seriously damaged, and although he was able to drive back to the pits without causing another red flag he was unable to continue in this session.

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Despite that, Hadjar clearly had good pace in his car, lapping within half a second of Leclerc in sixth place. His team mate Liam Lawson was only fractionally faster.

Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris joined their team mates in the top four. The latter, however, was three tenths of a second off the pace.

The Red Bull pair took up their customary Friday positions lower down the time sheet. Max Verstappen was tenth, after having a minor off at Mirabeau which he recovered from. Besides both drivers from Red Bull’s second team, he was also slower than Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, Alexander Albon for Williams and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the first of the Mercedes drivers.

The stewards are investigating Oliver Bearman for a potential infringement when the session was suspended, but decided to take no action after looking into whether Yuki Tsunoda failed to slow for yellow flags.

2025 Monaco Grand Prix Grand Prix second practice result

P.	#	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-25	1’11.355		32
2	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL39	1’11.393	0.038	28
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	SF-25	1’11.460	0.105	30
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL39	1’11.677	0.322	32
5	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	02	1’11.823	0.468	32
6	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	02	1’11.842	0.487	17
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR25	1’11.890	0.535	30
8	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW47	1’11.918	0.563	34
9	12	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	W16	1’12.002	0.647	32
10	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB21	1’12.068	0.713	29
11	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB21	1’12.072	0.717	30
12	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W16	1’12.092	0.737	32
13	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Williams-Mercedes	FW47	1’12.151	0.796	32
14	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber-Ferrari	C45	1’12.234	0.879	29
15	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas-Ferrari	VF-25	1’12.259	0.904	33
16	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber-Ferrari	C45	1’12.262	0.907	32
17	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A525	1’12.404	1.049	34
18	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR25	1’12.512	1.157	30
19	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas-Ferrari	VF-25	1’12.541	1.186	33
20	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine-Renault	A525	1’13.415	2.060	31

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2025 Monaco Grand Prix

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14 comments on “Leclerc stays on top in second practice as Hadjar crashes twice”

Jere (@jerejj)
23rd May 2025, 17:19

What a messy session for Hadjar & race control was unnecessarily hasty to suspend the session on two occasions, especially with Piastri who clearly had a chance to reverse without a doubt & picking up a front wing is possible under VSC even at Sainte Devote.
Ben
23rd May 2025, 17:21

I really hope Ferrari can keep this pace all weekend but I think McLaren have them covered and the RedBull will come good again tomorrow.

I wouldn’t be surprised if pole creeps into the 1:09’s tomorrow, so there’s still a massive amount of time for everyone to find.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
23rd May 2025, 18:58

Tomorrow’s quali will be very interesting.
LyndaMarks
23rd May 2025, 19:47

So far replacing Doohan with Colapinto hasn’t seemed like the right choice as Colapinto hasn’t been getting as close to Gasly’s pace as Doohan was.

Doohan was showing good improvement and out-qualified Gasly in Miami so if he had been kept in the car and continued that improvement he’d be in a much better place than Colapinto.
1. An Sionnach
  23rd May 2025, 20:54
  
  I wonder is Gasly’s seat secure at Alpine? Perhaps, but if they can find two better drivers, he’s out.
  1. kpcart
    24th May 2025, 2:11
    
    It is very secure
  2. Esploratore (@esploratore1)
    24th May 2025, 2:18
    
    He impressed briatore at interlagos last year, so I’d say he’s safe, he praised him in a public comment.
An Sionnach
23rd May 2025, 20:59

How many red flags will there be in the race? If qualifying is badly disrupted, it could have championship implications further up the grid.
1. An Sionnach
  23rd May 2025, 21:09
  
  Perhaps a Hamilton win? He is the safety car / red flag whisperer… Sharle on pole, Lewis starting fifth… Hamilton wins, with Leclerc stuck in traffic. Looking forward to hearing the radio messages.
osnola
23rd May 2025, 21:08

So rain expected just before qualitying.. can be interesting.
1. Esploratore (@esploratore1)
  24th May 2025, 2:37
  
  Way more interesting if it were during quali.
Dane
23rd May 2025, 21:10

Ferrari seem to have the pace, but can they get the strategy right? With all the rookies in the field we’re bound to have some safety cars.
1. Jonathan Parkin
  23rd May 2025, 21:23
  
  Not necessarily. And don’t forget it took 11 seasons to have a SC in Monaco in an F1 race. Plenty of rookies raced in those years
  1. David BR (@david-br)
    23rd May 2025, 23:46
    
    Bigger cars, lots of rookies under pressure, mixed and potentially chaotic strategies, packed pit lane. Maybe rain. I think a safety car is highly likely. I’m also expecting at least one red flag incident in qualifying – no names mentioned but there are some drivers towards the top of the grid likely to be pushing closer and closer to the walls for that pole.