Leclerc protagonist of the free practice in Monte Carlo: first he hits Stroll, then he gets the best time

Charles Leclerc was the fastest in the first free practice sessions of his home Grand Prix. In Monaco, the Monegasque Ferrari driver preceded Max Verstappen by almost two tenths. Third was Lando Norris, ahead of Alexander Albon. Fifth was the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who preceded George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton, ninth and protagonist of a “touch” against the wall, at the end of the session, without any consequences.

Fast Ferrari but with handling problems

The Monegasque was the absolute star of the first free practice sessions. As soon as he got going he went “long” at Mirabeau. Then, after about ten minutes, he hit Stroll on turn 6, resulting in the red flag being shown. It was the Canadian’s fault, as he didn’t hear his engineer’s radio communications and got on the racing line while the Monegasque was doing a flying lap. The Ferrari came out of the collision with a damaged wing, but Leclerc still got back on track, setting the best time, despite having complained to the garage about the problems with his car, which was suffering from both understeer and oversteer.

Adrian Newey on his first track with Aston Martin

Good performance on the track by the Aston Martin, which seems much improved thanks to the Imola update package. Watching it carefully from the pit wall is Adrian Newey , at his first appearance in the paddock with his new team.