Practice report
Formula 1 Monaco GP
F1 Monaco GP: Hamilton tops briefly red-flagged FP1
Lewis Hamilton headlined the opening free practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix as the seven-time Formula 1 champion went fastest moments before a red flag.
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited: May 24, 2024, 12:52 PM
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The Briton reached the peak of the FP1 times by 0.029s over McLaren's Oscar Piastri, as the top five were all within a quarter of a second in this weekend's opening timed session at the Monaco circuit.
Hamilton's lap was succeeded by a red flag called for debris produced at Turn 1 by Zhou Guanyu, who survived a brush with the barrier despite losing fragments of front wing.
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Continuous running defined the opening 20 minutes as the drivers sought to build their confidence around the Monaco circuit, with most of the field circulating on the hard tyres.
The times thus began to fall promptly; Oscar Piastri was on top after the opening set of timed laps with a 1m18.002s on a set of mediums, but the Monte-Carlo roads soon rubbered in and the seconds began to fall away.
After about 15 minutes of running, Max Verstappen had brought the benchmark down to a 1m13.974s - also on mediums.
Lando Norris subsequently emerged at the top on hard tyres, going 0.04s faster than Verstappen, before Ferrari laid down a marker with Charles Leclerc - the Monaco local grabbed a 1m13.343s on the hardest compound of Pirelli tyre to sit at the top.
He continued to find time to set a 1m13.132s, closing out the top times on the suite of harder tyre compounds, before Piastri returned to the top of the order with a 1m12.618s on the soft tyres.
George Russell then eclipsed the McLaren driver with a 1m12.295s, and was joined in the top two positions by team-mate Hamilton, before Piastri found more time on his next run to grab a 1m12.198s.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, leaves the garage
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Hamilton proceeded to collect a 1m12.169s on his next tour on the soft tyres, before the session was suspended for a peppering of debris into Turn 1: Zhou Guanyu got slightly wayward on the entry to Sainte Devote and knocked off a portion of his front wing. The endplate became lodged underneath Leclerc's Ferrari.
The debris was swiftly cleared and 10 minutes remained on the clock when the session resumed, but there were no further improvements to Hamilton's overall lap.
Russell was third fastest, 0.126s shy of Hamilton's ultimate time, while Norris and Leclerc were separated by just 0.001s behind him. Fernando Alonso was sixth, 0.6s off of the best lap of the session, accosted by Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll and RB's Yuki Tsunoda.
Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz completed the top 10, as both Red Bulls fell outside of the top 10 having struggled with car balance throughout the session.
Monaco Grand Prix - Free Practice 1
Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info
1
-
4
Main Information Additional Data
1
-
2
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h 1 L. Hamilton Mercedes 44
Mercedes Mercedes 35
1'12.169
166.459 2 O. Piastri McLaren 81
McLaren Mercedes 31
+0.029
1'12.198
0.029 166.392 3 G. Russell Mercedes 63
Mercedes Mercedes 35
+0.126
1'12.295
0.097 166.169 4 L. Norris McLaren 4
McLaren Mercedes 33
+0.227
1'12.396
0.101 165.937 5 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
Ferrari Ferrari 33
+0.228
1'12.397
0.001 165.935 6 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
Aston Martin Mercedes 26
+0.606
1'12.775
0.378 165.073 7 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
Aston Martin Mercedes 26
+0.620
1'12.789
0.014 165.041 8 Y. Tsunoda RB 22
RB Red Bull 34
+0.706
1'12.875
0.086 164.846 9 D. Ricciardo RB 3
RB Red Bull 36
+0.732
1'12.901
0.026 164.787 10 C. Sainz Ferrari 55
Ferrari Ferrari 35
+0.785
1'12.954
0.053 164.668 11 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1
Red Bull Red Bull 29
+0.815
1'12.984
0.030 164.600 12 S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11
Red Bull Red Bull 29
+1.060
1'13.229
0.245 164.049 13 V. Bottas Sauber 77
Sauber Ferrari 28
+1.079
1'13.248
0.019 164.007 14 K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20
Haas Ferrari 33
+1.221
1'13.390
0.142 163.689 15 A. Albon Williams 23
Williams Mercedes 34
+1.256
1'13.425
0.035 163.611 16 N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27
Haas Ferrari 34
+1.407
1'13.576
0.151 163.276 17 L. Sargeant Williams 2
Williams Mercedes 36
+1.981
1'14.150
0.574 162.012 18 E. Ocon Alpine 31
Alpine Renault 33
+1.990
1'14.159
0.009 161.992 19 Z. Guanyu Sauber 24
Sauber Ferrari 30
+2.401
1'14.570
0.411 161.099 20 P. Gasly Alpine 10
Alpine Renault 10
+3.405
1'15.574
1.004 158.959 View full results
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