Author: Barkha Roy
In the first practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, Williams driver Alex Albon ended the session early with an accident at the first corner. Albon, who had been performing well with tenth place, lost control of his car in the middle of Saint Devote, resulting in a collision with the barrier. Unfortunately, his accident prevented Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc from setting a potentially threatening lap time.
At the top of the timesheets, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz set the pace, closely followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and reigning champion Lewis Hamilton in his updated Mercedes. However, championship leader Max Verstappen struggled, finishing sixth with his Red Bull and facing problems with the car’s set-up.
Hamilton, reflecting on his performance in practice, expressed satisfaction with the improvements brought about by the updated Mercedes. Despite finishing sixth, he acknowledged that the team still had work to do to close the gap on the front-runners. Hamilton didn’t say much about the specific areas for improvement, but mentioned that he discussed them in the report.
Mercedes introduced a design development with a new front suspension, sidepods and floor in an attempt to increase competitiveness. Team principal Toto Wolff expressed his satisfaction with the update, saying that the car had not shown any undesirable characteristics.
Although Mercedes had intended to debut the update at the previous race, it was postponed due to the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
caused by flooding in northern Italy. Monaco’s unique circuit presents challenges for evaluating the effects of significant redesigns, as the tight and twisty nature of the track differs from conventional circuits.
Verstappen ended up setting the pace in the next session, with Leclerc, Sainz and Alonso on his tail. Sainz’s performance was hampered when he crashed in the Pool section, while Alonso had to abort a potentially threatening lap due to traffic. Verstappen, although initially dissatisfied with his car’s performance in the first session, found improvements for the second practice.
Hamilton came fifth, with McLaren’s Lando Norris impressively securing fourth place. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez struggled in seventh, while Valtteri Bottas showed promising speed in his updated Alfa Romeo, finishing eighth. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon completed the top ten in their Alpines.
By the end of the day, the scene was set for an intense battle for pole position in qualifying, with Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz and Alonso emerging as the main contenders. Hamilton, although pleased with the upgrades, acknowledged the challenge of closing the gap in Monaco.