What the teams said – Friday in Monaco

Ferrari

Leclerc had a very action-packed opening session at home. He ran wide at the start of the session into an escape road, but worse was to come when he hit Stroll’s car. Replays showed the Monegasque driver with nowhere to go as Stroll veered back onto the racing line when Leclerc was on a hot lap. That damaged his front wing, but he was able to continue after a short stay in the pits and wound up going fastest. Hamilton was also busy. He clipped the barriers into the Swimming Pool chicane, before launching his car into the air as he ran over the sausage kerbs there. He was fortunate not to hit the opposite wall, but his car did need checking.

A cleaner second session for both drivers saw Leclerc again at the top of the timing sheets, with Hamilton backing him up in P3. Ferrari are the ones to beat so far – which is something of a surprise to many.

Charles Leclerc - FP1: 1.11.964, P1; FP2: 1:11.355, P1

"Monaco is always very special, not just to me but to anyone driving on this track. On Fridays, everyone is taking their reference points. It’s still too early to feel very confident for the weekend, but it has been a positive first day on track for us. Our one-lap pace was strong and I felt comfortable in the car, no matter which compound we were running on.

"Qualifying is going to be fundamental around here as usual and we have to be starting in front if we want to bring home a good result."

Lewis Hamilton - FP1: 1:12.690, P9; FP2: 1:11.460, P3

"It's been a positive day. This track is always a challenge but in the best way, and experiencing it in a Ferrari makes it even more special. We completed our programme and gathered a lot of useful data which we’ll continue working through tomorrow. The pace felt promising overall; however, there’s still time to find.

"I’m getting a good feeling from the car and the balance is not bad, so I’m looking forward to building on this as the weekend goes on."

McLaren

Mclaren started well in Monaco, both drivers happy to push the limits and both kissing the barriers for good measure. They ran the softs slightly earlier than their rivals, switching to the mediums when the track was at its best which explained why they were not challenging for the top spot. Piastri was quick in FP2 too, albeit after bringing out the red flags thanks to a moment at Sainte Devote. He locked up and ran straight on into the barriers, wiping off his front wing in an uncharacteristically messy moment. He bounced back from that, with Norris not too much further back.

Oscar Piastri - FP1: 1:12.342, P5; FP2: 1:11.393, P2

“A trickier day. We come away from it feeling quite good, but it's been one of the tougher Fridays. We’ve got some things to still go over and try to improve, but I think we’re in decent shape. Thanks to the team for the quick turnaround to get me back on track.”

Lando Norris - FP1: 1:12.290, P3; FP2: 1:11.677, P4

“It’s been a reasonable Friday. I felt comfortable from the beginning, but we need to improve in some areas which I’m positive we can work on as a team. A solid start to the weekend.”

Red Bull

Red Bull often start slowly on Fridays, but not here. Verstappen was fast from word go, winding up second overall behind Leclerc. Tsunoda could not quite match that, as he continues to regain some confidence following last weekend’s huge crash. But the same pattern did not hold in the second session. Both drivers picked up traffic on their flying laps, but the RB21 did not look as comfortable to drive as it had earlier. The good news for the team is that Tsunoda found some pace, winding up just 0.004s back from his team mate.

READ MORE: Verstappen impressed by ‘very, very fast’ Ferrari as he admits Red Bull ‘overdid’ set-up changes in Monaco practice

Max Verstappen - FP1: 1:12.127, P2; FP2: 1:12.068, P10

“Monaco is always quite tricky with traffic. I think there were moments where it was quite dangerous, which isn’t ideal. I know it is practice but it could have been worse if you don’t back out of it quickly and don’t read the situation. In terms of how we are looking for the weekend, I think FP1 was quite positive but then we made some changes for FP2. We looked at how far we could push the balance and I think we just overdid it a little bit and I couldn’t attack the corners as much as I would have liked to. We were shedding a lot of pace and lap time. I don’t expect us to be the quickest, but we of course want to be a lot closer similar to what we were like in FP2. We could be a lot closer but the Ferraris again were looking fast and the McLarens were close behind. If you see over the whole season the pace, Ferrari has taken a big step forward here."

Yuki Tsunoda - FP1: 1:13.232, P14; FP2: 1:12.072, P11

“As usual in Monaco, we had a bit of traffic in practice today but it’s the same for everyone and it is just a case of luck. In P1 we didn’t have much luck but fortunately in P2 we got more laps. It was alright today; I think I was really able to feel the limitation in the soft tyre but it is kind of similar to the limitations I felt in P1. I just don’t feel much step from the soft, in terms of grip and that is what I am struggling with. I didn’t get much running on the medium to try that out, I got one lap and then with it was very interrupted with the red flag. We certainly made a step with the car from P1 to P2 but there are still some small things we need to squeeze out of the car and I need a couple of tenths more. We have shown there is some potential there so I just have to squeeze it out of myself, keep doing what I am doing, build up the pace and hopefully I can put it all together in Qualifying."

Mercedes

It was a mixed bag for Mercedes in the opening session. Russell ran two sets of softs and looked quick towards the end of the session, but Antonelli took a lot longer to get up to speed. He even clipped the walls late on, as he tried to explore every inch of the racing line. The rookie teenager did better in FP2, looked more comfortable and wound up in the top 10. He finished ahead of a lacklustre Russell, who just wasn’t quite on it in the second session – the warm track conditions certainly not favouring the Mercedes.

READ MORE: Mercedes suffer 'slowest Friday' in Monaco but Russell optimistic two-stop race offers 'a chance'

George Russell - FP1: 1:12.482, P6; FP2: 1:12.092, P12

"It is always intense around Monaco but it's amazing to drive here. The streets are narrow and fitting 20 F1 cars on the circuit always been a challenge. All teams always try to have a 2.5s gap between every car to be able to complete their program, but as Yuki (Tsunoda) said, it's really "traffic paradise" around here.

"We were not particularly quick today, but I am still confident for tomorrow. There are clear improvements we can make overnight with the car, and we have some ideas about how to get the tyres into a better window for the single lap. Saturday is usually the key day in Monaco with the outcome of Qualifying being highly decisive for the race. With the mandatory two stop this year though, it will likely make things interesting. Being in the top three after Qualifying might not be as vital as it has been in years past. Nevertheless, we will be giving it our all to be as high up on the grid come Sunday."

Kimi Antonelli - FP1: 1:12.765, P11; FP2: 1:12.002, P9

"Today was a bit tricky on my side. I struggled to find the right balance with the car and was unable to get the maximum out of the tyres. We experimented with different approaches to the warm-up in both sessions, but it still proved challenging to get the tyres in the right window on lap one. That said, we still learned a lot today. I also thoroughly enjoyed driving here in Monaco in F2 last year. In an F1 car though, it's even more magical. I'm excited for tomorrow's Qualifying session where we push the car to its absolute maximum with no room for error.

"Performance wise, the Ferraris looked strong in both FP1 and FP2. We also know that the McLarens have been right at the front since the start of the season. Tomorrow won't be easy, therefore. As always though, we are focused on ourselves and trying to improve session-by-session. We'll analyse all the data overnight and will be ready for tomorrow."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"As expected, Monaco is always challenging to get the low and high fuel work completed with all the usual red and yellow flags interrupting the sessions. However, today was still a reasonable day and we managed to get some positive work done on track.

"Overall, the car balance wasn't in the place that the drivers need it to extract a strong lap time though. That balance was costing us across the whole speed range but particularly in the slow speed. That is something that we will be working hard to analyse overnight both here in Monaco and back in the simulator at Lauda Drive. We've already got some good areas of focus and are hopeful we can have an improved showing tomorrow.

"The mandatory two-stop regulation for this year, coupled with the use of the C6 tyre compound, will make things interesting on Sunday. Our main goal though is to be in a good place pace wise, both on the single lap and long run. That will help unlock our race come the Grand Prix and our focus now is to do that and get both our cars higher up in the time sheets tomorrow."

Williams

Williams had a good opening session despite Sainz finding himself reversing back out of an escape road at one point. Both drivers looked quick, finishing comfortably in the top 10. Albon finished there again in FP2, with Sainz further down the order. That is not to say the team struggled – more that they had the confidence to try a few different things, before knuckling down and concentrating on longer run pace.

Alex Albon - FP1: 1:12.314, P4; FP2: 1:11.918, P8

"I don’t think we are totally happy with the car yet. There’s a rhythm that you need around Monaco and it’s been quite a disjointed day because of all the yellow and red flags, so I haven’t found that feeling yet. We are relatively quick, and the car is not quite there yet, so we need to go through the data, make some changes tonight and get well prepared for tomorrow."

Carlos Sainz - FP1: 1:12.534, P7; FP2: 1:12.151, P13

"We started FP1 with a car that wasn’t giving me a lot of confidence, but I still managed to do some good laps. I had some work to do on setup and for FP2 we introduced some changes that unfortunately didn’t seem to work and we took a step back. We’ve got work for tomorrow, but I’m confident we can find the right balance and do a good build up for Qualifying."

Racing Bulls

Hadjar was another driver to kiss the barriers in FP1, his team swift to check over his car. He finished outside the top 10, at the end of what the rookie called “the busiest FP1 of my life”. Lawson also fell foul of traffic a couple of times, while he complained at one point that he could smell his brakes. There was good and bad news from FP2 for the team, both drivers looking quick and finishing in the top 10. While that was a big positive, Hadjar crashed twice as he struggled to find the limits out there. He hit the inside corner into the Nouvelle Chicane, before clipping the walls on the exit of Sainte Devote heavily with his rear tyre later on.

Isack Hadjar - FP1: 1:13.187, P13; FP2: 1:11.842, P6

“It was a really intense Friday. The free practices around Monaco are a lot busier than usual due to the traffic; I enjoyed it, but at the same time, it was really hard. It was a bit of a tricky day as I brushed some walls and constantly played with the limit. I got scared in FP2, as at some point, I thought that I couldn’t bring the car back to the garage due to some damage, but luckily, I managed to do it. This allowed us to have a few more laps on the softs towards the end of the session. I feel sorry for the team for my mistakes, as these added a bit more effort for them. They did an amazing job today."

Liam Lawson - FP1: 1:13.429, P17; FP2: 1:11.823, P5

“It’s been a positive day for us, it’s one of those tracks where you’re building up the whole weekend. We made a good step from this morning but naturally tomorrow everyone will keep progressing and we need to keep chasing. We made a lot of changes today and we will keep working. I’ve raced here before in other Formula’s but it’s much better in an F1 car, it’s faster and way more compliant. It’s a nice car and really fun, it’s special to drive around here. Tomorrow is the important day, we will focus on making another step in FP3 and try put ourselves in a good place for Qualifying.”

Alan Permane, Racing Director

“As always, it is super exciting to be here in Monaco, these cars are so impressive on this unforgiving track. Liam had a textbook Monaco day; he wasn’t so happy with the car in FP1, as there was a little bit too much understeer, but some changes before FP2 put the car in a better window. From there he built up his day, putting it all together and finishing with a very good lap. Isack had a bit more of a fraught day, he clipped the apex wall at Turn 15 towards the end of the FP1 and as a precaution we changed the front suspension between sessions. He then punctured the right rear tyre after touching the wall on the way in to turn 10 at the start of FP2 and the tyre damaged some of the aero parts around the wheel. There was no structural damage, so he went out again, and also finished strongly. Both guys are reasonably happy with the car; we got a few more things to look at tonight, and I’m sure we can make the car balance even nicer. A big thank you to Isack’s crew for their swift repairs today!”

Aston Martin

Stroll sat out the majority of FP1 after an early clash with Leclerc’s Ferrari. He pulled to the inside of the track approaching the hairpin, letting a Mercedes through but moving back to the racing line just in time to catch a fast-moving Leclerc. His car suffered rear wing, diffuser and floor damage, which ended his involvement in the session, and he was then handed a one-place grid drop for the incident to add insult to injury. The better news for the team is that Alonso looked quick in both sessions, the upgrades clearly doing the business for the team – at least on the Spaniard’s car.

READ MORE: Stroll hit with grid penalty after Leclerc clash in opening Monaco GP practice

Fernando Alonso - FP1: 1:12.727, P10; FP2: 1:11.890, P7

"I was a bit happier with the balance of the car in FP2 today after some set-up changes and hopefully we can take another step tomorrow. It's a track where you have to keep building the momentum and confidence. Traffic will be one of the main topics tomorrow, so let's see if we can get some clean laps in Qualifying."

Lance Stroll - FP1: 1:15.635, P20; FP2: 1:12.512, P18

"It wasn't an easy FP1 for us today: we missed out on a lot of running due to contact with Charles Leclerc. The team in the garage worked hard to get the car back running ahead of FP2 and we made progress with the programme. We now need to see what changes we can make overnight to improve the car and be ready for Qualifying."

Alpine

Gasly tends to go well at this track, and he started his weekend with a solid top 10 finish – although he was another to complain about the traffic. Colapinto sensibly opted to take his time getting up to speed in just his second race weekend with the team. The Argentine angered Verstappen at one point in FP2 as he did not get off the racing line in time, but other than that had a quiet day. Gasly fell back down the order in FP2, but was another to pick up traffic on a fast lap, leaving his true pace a little unknown.

Pierre Gasly - FP1: 1:12.669, P8; FP2: 1:12.404, P17

“It is great to be back in Monaco. It’s definitely one of the highlights of the year and I do love driving here. I would say Free Practice 1 was much better for us than Free Practice 2. We settled into a nice rhythm straight away and ended the session in eighth place. Others seemed to make a bigger step in performance in the second session so there are some question marks on our side. We had clean laps but we just seemed to lack pace. As of now, we are on the backfoot compared to those around us. We have some work to do overnight and we need to find some performance to put ourselves into the battle. I know we can do it and I am looking forward to one of the best Qualifying sessions of the year tomorrow.”

Franco Colapinto - FP1: 1:13.820, P19; FP2: 1:13.415, P20

“It was nice to experience Monaco in a Formula One car today for the first time. The circuit has its unique challenges and requires a lot of confidence as a driver to put in a strong lap. We have used the day to build up my confidence in the car over the course of the two sessions and I feel we are in a good position in that regard going into tomorrow. We had a couple of positive long runs, but we faced a lot of traffic and a Red Flag in Free Practice 2, which made the second session quite tricky to manage. We are slightly off the pace, and we need to work tonight to understand where we can extract more from both cars, especially considering the important role Qualifying will play this weekend. Pierre and I will work with the team to debrief from the day and aim to come back stronger tomorrow.”

Haas

Haas had a tricky weekend in Imola, but started their Monaco campaign in slightly better style with a decent session in FP1 as both drivers continued to gather data on the latest upgrades. Bearman was the pick of the duo in both sessions, but was called to the stewards after FP2 for a red flag infringement. Replays showed him overtaking despite the red flags being out, and as a result he was handed a 10-place grid penalty for failing to slow down immediately.

Esteban Ocon – FP1: 1:13.394, P16; FP2: 1:12.541, P19

"On Friday it’s normal to start pushing the limits, but there were no dramas. I brushed the wall a little bit in Turn 16 once, but I’ve seen other drivers do a bit more. Unfortunately, not very quick today, so we have a lot of work for tomorrow to figure quite a lot of things out and get some more pace for Saturday."

Oliver Bearman - FP1: 1:13.329, P15; FP2: 1:12.259, P15

"It’s nice to be racing on the streets of Monaco, it always presents a good challenge. My feeling was that we did a good step from FP1 to FP2 with the car and I was happy with the balance. We also tried to short-run the medium and see how its performance was over one lap and it seemed pretty robust. Qualifying is really the goal, but we’ll have to see as I did my performance laps on mediums, which was quite different from some of the others. I think there are some good signs from today, so let’s look to improve on them tomorrow."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

"In FP1, our car set-up wasn’t optimum, but the good thing about that was both drivers were providing exactly the same feedback about the limitation and how to improve the car. The team worked hard between sessions with the drivers, and in FP2 it was a lot better, so that’s the positive. It was tricky with all the red flags, as usual in Monaco, but I think we could see what’s available and what we can do. I think we’re in the fine-tuning stage now so tomorrow is about finding a clean lap and execution. Our long run pace was okay, but it’s all about qualifying here, so we’ll focus on that tonight."

Kick Sauber

Bortoleto baulked Verstappen at one point in FP1, which did not go down well and might impact their budding friendship. Hulkenberg had a quieter session, finding enough pace to finish near the top 10. The German fell backwards in the second session, while Bortoleto again tangled with the Red Bull. He was seen deep in conversation with Verstappen post-session, perhaps receiving a bit of a telling off from the World Champion.

Nico Hulkenberg - FP1: 1:12.979, P12; FP2: 1:12.262, P16

"It was a decent and trouble-free Friday overall. I felt quite comfortable in the car right from the beginning of FP1, which is particularly important on a tight street circuit like Monaco. We found a good baseline setup, and now it's all about extracting the right insights from the data to finetune a few areas overnight. As expected, the field is incredibly tight, so even small improvements can make a significant difference."

Gabriel Bortoleto - FP1: 1:13.470, P18; FP2: 1:12.234, P14

“It was my first experience driving in Monaco in a Formula One car, and it was just insane. The adrenaline through the run here is so high—you have such a big car on a small track and you’re pushing to the limit, constantly close to the walls. It’s unreal, it’s so different from every other category I’ve run here before and I’m really enjoying it. Overall, today was positive—we made some progress, and I'm becoming increasingly confident with the car. No one is fully at the limit yet; you don't want to risk too much before qualifying. I'm getting up to speed quickly, and FP2 was especially good for me. As always, we need to look carefully at the data tonight to understand where we can improve: it's going to be tight again this weekend, but if we put a good car together and I deliver my best driving, I believe we can achieve another good result in qualifying.”

Pirelli

Simone Berra, Chief Engineer

“Quite a busy day with lots of laps and plenty of data gathered. It was important for us to see how the C6 performed after it made its debut in Imola and we can say that, here too, the indications we saw last week were also confirmed today. The softest tyre in the 2025 range is slightly faster than the C5 and, with one or two cool-down laps, recovers much of its performance. It was also clear that, given that it exhibits the traits of an extremely soft compound, the drivers might feel a little less confident with it when trying to push for a time right from the first flying lap. This could potentially open the door to the Medium also being used in one or more segments of qualifying.

"Furthermore, with the special sporting regulation in place for this weekend, the choice of tyres for the grid-deciding session will have a significant knock-on effect for the race. For example, today 13 drivers from seven teams chose to already use a set of Hards, thus having just one left for Sunday. Five drivers, (Piastri, Norris, Hamilton, Hadjar and Lawson), used one set of Mediums in each of the two sessions.

"As is often the case in Monaco, the lap times came down bit by bit with every passing lap, partly because the track is rubbering-in, with a new surface from turn 12 to 3, but mainly because the drivers grow in confidence. However, the times have been slightly slower than in the same session last year, when once again Leclerc was fastest, in 1’11”278.

"From a tyre wear perspective, we saw some graining on the Mediums at the end of the long runs, something which is totally predictable at this track and in these conditions.”