Sir Lewis Hamilton presents himself in Monaco: on his home roads the Englishman was the fastest in the first free practice session of the Principality GP. Lewis arrived at 1’12″169 on the soft tires which was less than a second compared to last time’s pole position! Hamilton preceded Oscar Piastri’s McLaren with the livery dedicated to Ayrton Senna by just 29 thousandths.
On a track where aerodynamics do not count, but aerodynamic load, the Mercedes W15 showed off its claws, also placing George Russell in third place with a gap of 126 thousandths from his teammate: in Stella’s team they prefer not to make proclamations because the black and silver car adapts quite well when there is little grip and then loses itself as grip increases.
Lando Norris is fourth in the second McLaren: the winner of Miami is at 227 thousandths, preferring a less aggressive approach to the guard rails than his Australian teammate did. Ferrari is “only” fifth with Charle Leclerc, but the driver from Nonega preferred to run only with the medium tyres, adding a sequence of laps useful for gaining confidence on the walls. The host with 1’12″397 arrived just one thousandth of a second behind Norris, giving the clear feeling that the red cars could be very competitive and in Maranello he preferred not to show their potential.
At the end of the session, Charles had to deal with damage to the floor: Leclerc took full advantage of Guanyu Zhou’s debris after the Chinese driver had collided with the Sauber at the exit of St. Devote, ruining the second flow diverter inside of the Venturi channels. Carlos Sainz is tenth with the second Ferrari: the Spaniard has a more cautious adaptation to the track. The Madrilenian also only ran with yellow tyres.
The performances of the two Aston Martins were positive with Fernando Alonso, sixth, followed by his teammate, Lance Stroll. In the Silverstone team they have given up on the new front wing brought to Imola and seem to have found a good balance, returning to positions more suited to the “green”.
Yuki Tsunoda put the Racing Bulls in eighth place, just a tenth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, confirming the good things already shown at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari. And world championship leader Max Verstappen? He’s only 11th with Red Bull. The Dutchman pursued the same strategy as Ferrari, dedicating himself only to the yellow tyres, but Max’s nervousness was not lost on him for two long runs at the second chicane of the Piscine. The RB20 looks nervous just as it did last week in Emilia Romagna. The eight tenths that Verstappen paid from the top mean nothing: it is more indicative that the orange driver precedes a Sergio Perez who is in difficulty in the Principality.
Kevin Magnussen impressed well with the Haas: he was 13th, but was guilty of a block with Tsunoda: the Dane has to be careful because he only needs to lose two points on his license to miss a GP. Nico Hulkenberg is 16th with the other VF-24: the German was the author of a forehand in St. Devote: he only got away with a long shot without damage.
The two Williams are 15th and 17th with Alexander Albon just ahead of Logan Sargeant: the two teammates were separated by Nico Hulkenberg.
Sauber is 13th with Valtteri Bottas: the C44 finally seems to feel the changes made to the rear, while Zhou interrupted the session a quarter of an hour from the end causing the red flag for the touch at turn 1. Bad for the Alpines: Esteban Ocon he is 18th, while Pierre Gasly is last: the Frenchman stopped due to an exhaust problem and never left the pits again.
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