Carlos Sainz and Ferrari made a fast start to their Monaco Grand Prix weekend, as the Spaniard led the first practice session in Monte Carlo, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
In a busy session where drivers and their teams looked to get up to speed and keep up with the circuit, it was Sainz who set the early pace on the medium tire with a time of 1m14.251s to lead his team-mate Charles. Leclerc and Alonso.
Hamilton then vaulted to the top of the timesheets before Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg damaged his left-rear tire after crashing into the wall at Turn 13, and while he was able to return to the garage, the session was briefly red-flagged. Obliged to fix obstacles.
After the session resumed, fast laps began to come from the drivers, with Sainz going even faster with 1m 13.372s on the medium tyre, to lead Alonso by 0.338s.
A three-time winner in Monte Carlo, Hamilton looked comfortable in the upgraded W14, his fastest time good enough for third, leaving last year’s winner Sergio Perez fourth for Red Bull.
Home favorite Leclerc was fifth fastest for Ferrari, while championship leader Max Verstappen had an isolated session complaining of bottoming and rear end problems in his RB19, although he still set a time good enough for sixth.
Lando Norris – sporting the one-off ‘Triple Crown’ livery in his McLaren – was seventh fastest, ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine and Lance Stroll’s other Aston Martin.
Alex Albon was 10th fastest for Williams, although it was a poor end to the session for the Thai racer, as he crashed into the barriers exiting Turn 1, bringing an early end to proceedings in the opening hours.
Valtteri Bottas was 11th fastest for Alfa Romeo, and Kevin Magnussen was 12th fastest for Haas in their 150th Grand Prix weekend in Formula 1.
Yuki Tsunoda was 13th fastest for the AlphaTauri, his former team-mate Pierre Gasly and George Russell’s other Mercedes 15th, the Briton complaining of brake and tire problems in his upgraded W14.
Nyck de Vries was 16th fastest, ahead of his colleagues Oscar Piastre and Logan Sargent, in McLaren and Williams respectively, with Zhou Guanyu 19th and Nico Hulkenberg further down the field.
Join us again at 1700 local time for the second practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend.
The Monaco Grand Prix weekend begins Friday (May 26), with practice 1 and 2. Practice 3 and qualifying are on Saturday (May 27), and the race is on Sunday (May 28).
Friday, May 26
Practice 1
- 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. ET
- 4:30 a.m. – 5:30 a.m. PT
- 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. BST
- 10:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. AEDT
Practice 2
- 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET
- 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. PT
- 4 p.m. – 5 p.m. BST
- 2 a.m. – 3 a.m. AEDT
Saturday, May 27
Practice 3
- 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. ET
- 3:30 a.m. – 4:30 a.m. PT
- 11:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. BST
- 9:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. AEDT
Qualifying
- 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. ET
- 7 a.m. – 8 a.m. PT
- 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. BST
- 1 a.m. – 2 a.m. AEDT
Sunday, May 28
Monaco Grand Prix
- 9 a.m. ET
- 6 a.m. PT
- 2 p.m. BST
- 12 a.m. AEDT