Monaco GP Practice Report: Leclerc Leads with Caution
In a promising start to the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Charles Leclerc topped both Friday practice sessions, clocking a best time of 1m11.355s in FP2. Despite his performance, Leclerc remained guarded, stating, "It’s too early to feel positive about a strong result."
The Monegasque driver faced an early setback in FP1 after making contact with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin at the Grand Hotel Hairpin. However, he quickly regained focus, setting the only sub-1m12s time of the session with a 1m11.964s, which was just 0.2s faster than Max Verstappen.
Leclerc acknowledged the necessity of strong qualifying pace at the tight Monaco circuit, emphasizing, "Qualifying is going to be fundamental around here. We’ve got to be starting in front if we want to hope for a good result." The Ferrari driver expressed satisfaction with the car’s performance across all tire compounds brought by Pirelli, hinting at potential strategic play with the C5 medium tire.
Leclerc’s teammate, Lewis Hamilton, also showed solid form, enjoying the circuit’s challenging layout. He noted areas for improvement in his driving rather than the car’s setup, indicating a subtle approach to fine-tuning. "There’s more to find in my driving… I’ll not be making many changes at all," he confirmed.
As the teams prepare for qualifying, the focus remains on maximizing performance and securing a favorable grid position ahead of the race.
