Mercedes on Top in First Monaco Grand Prix Practice Session as Verstappen Struggles

The Monaco Grand Prix is being broadcast live on 5 Live and the BBC Sport website. In the first practice session on Friday, Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes set the pace, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri closely behind. Hamilton expressed hope for a competitive weekend from Mercedes and was only 0.029 seconds quicker than Piastri.

Following Hamilton and Piastri, George Russell in another Mercedes took third place, followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, on the other hand, was struggling in 11th place and 0.815 seconds off the pace due to complaints about his car being “so loose over the bumps.”

The top five drivers were closely matched, with Russell just 0.126 seconds off the pace and Leclerc in fifth 0.228 seconds behind Hamilton. There was a noticeable gap to sixth-place Fernando Alonso, as drivers focused on reacquainting themselves with the tight Monaco street circuit and gaining confidence in their cars. The practice session was briefly red-flagged to clear debris from Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber hitting the wall at Sainte Devote, but fortunately, he only suffered a damaged front wing.

Logan Sergeant from Williams also nearly crashed but managed to avoid disaster. The second practice session later in the day at 16:00 UK time will feature more action as drivers continue to fine-tune their cars for race day on Sunday