Leclerc sweeps Friday practices on home turf

Charles Leclerc kept Ferrari’s momentum rolling with a clean sweep of Friday practices in Monaco, topping a stop-start FP2 ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton to cap a surprisingly dominant day for the Scuderia.

Following the usual jostle in the pitlane, the light went green to start the second practice session of the weekend, giving the grid another chance to fine-tune their cars and get a feel for the challenging Monaco circuit after a hectic run this morning.

Leading his competitors out on track for the second time on Friday, Liam Lawson didn’t shy away from the growing challenge of the Circuit de Monaco, kickstarting his FP2 run on the C5 tyre.

The Kiwi’s initial run reflected a time of 1:14.237s, however, a misjudgment from his teammate simultaneously resulted in a brief Red Flag.

Lawson kept Isack Hadjar company in the RB garage as the session resumed, before being one of the last drivers to rejoin the track action a moment later.

The #30 shaved almost half a second off his lap before yet another disruption brought the session to a short halt, with Lawson returning to the track to make further gains. 

On the medium compound, Lawson promoted himself to P12 before making the switch to the softest compound in Pirelli’s range.

The C6 rewarded the Racing Bulls driver with a time of 1:12.674s — a lap he shaved three-tenths off on his next circulation.

Lawson continued to fly under the radar until a standout lap skyrocketed him into the top three, sharing the coveted space with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris after crossing the line in 1:11.823s.

His next run was less smooth, with “traffic paradise” clouding his pathway as his leaders’ teammates worked to demote him. 

Completing a total of 32 laps across the hour session, Lawson’s time of 1:11.823s remained his fastest as he spent the final ten minutes focusing on high-fuel runs, leaving him in a confidence-boosting P5 as the chequered flag waved.

Watching and waiting as his competitors rolled out of the pitlane, Oscar Piastri filtered onto the unforgiving street circuit with the medium compound at his disposal.

On his first flying tour of the 3.3km lap, Piastri recorded a time of 1:13.068s, placing him as the second fastest driver once everyone had made an attempt.

Following the momentary Red Flag, purple sectors across the middle and end of the lap rewarded the Australian with a new benchmark, however, it was a matter of highs and lows when Piastri found himself in the barriers at Sainte Devote.

Carrying too much speed into the first corner, Piastri began a passenger in his MCL39 as he locked up, powerless to divert to the run-off area as he charged nose-first into the barriers, losing his front wing in the process. 

A Red Flag was called to clear the debris from the circuit, allowing the Australian time to claw back to his garage for a new front wing. 

It was a quick turnaround to have the #81 McLaren back out on track, this time sporting the softest C6 compound after tumbling down the timesheets while absent.

The Australian’s first attempt boosted him into P4, with a later attempt taking him one better as he regained a place within the top three, sitting behind the Ferrari duo by two-tenths before splitting them moments later.

Piastri ended Friday as the second fastest man on track, taking the chequered flag just 38 milliseconds behind Leclerc as he shifts his focus to the final hour of practice tomorrow. 

The yellow marked tyre was the most popular choice for the remainder of the grid as they commenced the second hour of practice in Monte Carlo, with Max Verstappen the early benchmark holder despite having issues with his RB21’s upshifts and his visor visibility.

Red Bull’s sister team had bigger issues to worry about when Isack Hadjar made heavy rear left contact with the barriers at Turn 10, prompting a Red Flag as the Frenchman limped back to the pitlane.

The session restarted with just over 45 minutes on the clock, with no driver wasting time as they fought their way out once again.

Having had a quiet morning session, the Mercedes duo made themselves known as they rounded out a Mercedes-powered top three in P2 and P3 — however, it was only momentary when the hometown hero charged to the top of the timesheets by almost half a second. 

FP2 programming came to another pause following the Piastri-born Red Flag, with the session resuming yet again with just over half an hour remaining.

Traffic continued to be a major issue across the board, with Verstappen condemning the rookies for their dangerous ignorance of blue flags, while Esteban Ocon found himself berating a more experienced crop of drivers through the tight Swimming Pool Chicane.

Getting a rare clear run through the Circuit de Monaco, Leclerc went from strength to strength as he reinstated the four-tenth margin to his nearest competitor, aided by three purple sectors which equated to a blistering time of 1:11.414s — but he wasn’t done yet, besting his benchmark by a further 0.059s on the same set of soft tyres.

Norris was his closest competitor, sitting four-tenths back in P2, while Fernando Alonso’s Imola prowess had seemingly returned in third.

The veteran of the sport found new reasons to complain about, venting his frustration regarding certain drivers’ habits of cutting across the Turn 10 chicane, an issue he deemed as a “distraction” after he unintentionally veered from the racing line. 

The Ferrari duo charged around the streets of Monte Carlo to sit in P1 and P2, with the McLaren duo breathing down their necks before successfully challenging the Italian outfit for the lead positions.

Hadjar had yet another slip-up as he continued to come to terms with the new circuit, with the back end of his VCARB 02 stepping out and sending his already-fragile left rear wheel into the barriers on the exit of Turn 1.

He tiptoed his way back home, leaving the rest of the field unaffected for the final ten minutes of FP2.

Also unaffected in the final moments of FP2 were the timesheets, with improvement being a rarity as the remaining 19 drivers continued to gain high-fuel experience around the challenging circuit. 

As a result, Charles Leclerc made it a Friday sweep as he topped the order for a second time around his home streets, with his lap time of 1:11.355s placing him just 0.038s ahead of the man he shared the podium with 12 months ago.

Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top three, sitting at a one-tenth deficit to his teammate on a surprisingly positive day for the Scuderia after the team’s own self-doubt flooded its weekend warm-up. 

The field will have one more hour of practice on Saturday before taking on the make-or-break Qualifying Session, with the hour shootout holding more weight than Sunday’s main event given the lack of overtaking opportunities in Monaco.

FP3 will kick off at 20:30 AEST on Saturday night, followed by Qualifying at 00:00 AEST.

Image: Scuderia Ferrari HP

Free Practice 2 Results:

2025 Monaco Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Friday, May 23:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, May 24:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, May 25:

Quali: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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