Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fastest in FP1, but he lost out in FP2, which was passed by Verstappen.
Monaco Grand Prix FP1 result: Sainz fastest from Alonso
What happened in Monaco GP Free Practice 1?
Sainz set the medium-tyre benchmark at 1m 15.198s, six tenths ahead of Verstappen, who ran hard early on and complained of “serious” bottoming and poor handling.
Leclerc beat it with a moderate time of 1m 15.037s after the front wing adjustment and narrowed it down to 1m 14.562s as the track entered.
Sainz cut the par to 1:14.245 and Leclerc 0.287. Verstappen came in, claiming he was “going to steer clear” of running the setup.
Just before the half-way point, Lewis Hamilton took P1 in his upgraded Mercedes with a medium 1m 14.035s.
Nico Hulkenberg turned at Nouvelle Chicane after hitting the left rear corner of the inside barrier and was briefly red-flagged despite driving the Haas back to the pits on three wheels.
At the restart, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) took the top spot with a time of 1m13.907s, with Sainz taking the title back with a time of 1m13.690s.
Sainz improved to 1:13.372, while Alex Albon hit the wall on the exit from Sainte Devote, tearing the car’s two left-hand corners. This raised red flags to end the meeting.
Also read:
Monaco GP FP2 result: Verstappen fastest from Leclerc
What happened in Monaco GP Free Practice 2?
Alonso set an early pace of 1m 14.416s at medium pace, 0.004s ahead of Hamilton before Verstappen lowered his P1 time to 1m 13.857s and then 1m 13.312s. Teammate Sergio Perez moved up to P2, a third of a second slower than the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc, who set their times in difficult positions.
Alonso was the first to switch to the soft tyre, clocking a time of 1:12.786 before Sainz took the lead in 1:12.569.
Verstappen finished 1m12.462s on the soft tyre, 0.065s ahead of Leclerc. Sainz was a tenth behind but crashed with 17 minutes remaining on the exit of the pool chicane after he hit the wall from the inside, broke the suspension and slammed into the outside barrier.
With no progress after the red flag, Alonso finished the day fourth, ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren) and Hamilton.
Pierre Gasly repeated Ocon’s performance at the Principality, finishing fourth on a day when others failed to get it right, although he was later held back by Carlos Sainz ) and Max Verstappen were relegated six places.
Ocon, meanwhile, had a less-than-perfect lap in Q3 but was still seventh ahead of Sunday’s grid thanks to a team-mate’s penalty.
“It’s fantastic,” Ocon said when asked by Autosport about the car being fourth fastest again.
“If you had told me two games ago, I wouldn’t have believed it.
“Credit to Viry and Enstone for the work they’ve done, as those upgrades we’ve brought to them are clearly working.
“It’s a moment of confirmation after Monaco, the car is obviously more dynamic, so we’re happy.”
Ocon admitted he didn’t have the best overtake on the final lap, which contributed to his lack of Gasly.
“We optimized very well in all qualifying sessions, except for my performance in Q3,” he explained.
“Probably the tires weren’t as good at the start of the lap as all the other runs we maxed out, and in the rear I didn’t have that good grip.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Team
Photography: Erik Junius
“It was a bit like Fernando (Alonso), I lost the rear entry to Turn 10, I went a little wide and I lost a lot of lap time there. So there was definitely more possibility today, but it was A great place to start.
“I was really happy today because it was so close and it meant that if we had good lap times we could be there, which is fantastic.
“I hope F1 will stay like this for a long time, and P1 will do likewise.”
Before his penalty was confirmed, Gasly responded to Ocon’s statement about the state of the team.
“I’m very happy for the team because it’s the best qualifying of the season,” he said.
“It’s more important than the result itself. I’m happy with the evolution we’ve shown over the past few weekends.
“It’s early in the season and I’m getting to know the team every weekend. They’re getting to know myself, you know, it’s about putting things together. I really feel like every weekend, we’re taking a step forward. .
“It was a really strong lap. I always look further. When I see Carlos coming in second with less than 10th, it really shows that we are on the gear we have There is potential, and the upgrades are working.
“Overall, there are a lot of positives in this qualifying session.”
Nyck de Vries has performed much better in Monaco than at previous Grands Prix this season. The Dutch seem to have brought this form to the Spanish country. Around Barcelona, the AlphaTauri drivers had a great time. He started the race in 14th place. In a press conference with GPblog and others, De Vries looked to the future.