Hamilton Sets the Pace in Monaco's First Practice Session.

Posted 3 months ago

Lewis Hamilton led the first practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix on Friday, with his Mercedes outperforming McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

Lewis Hamilton led the first practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix, clocking in 0.029 seconds faster than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Hamilton was optimistic about a stronger performance from Mercedes this weekend.

George Russell, in the second Mercedes, secured third place, followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin was sixth, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen struggled in 11th place, 0.815 seconds off the pace.

Verstappen complained about his car handling poorly over the bumps and didn't use the soft tires, which most of the top drivers did.

The top five were closely matched, with Russell just 0.126 seconds behind Hamilton and Leclerc 0.228 seconds off the lead. There was a notable gap to Alonso, who was 0.606 seconds behind Hamilton.

Drivers focused on reacquainting themselves with Monaco's tight street circuit and building confidence in their cars.

The session was briefly halted with about 15 minutes left to clear debris after Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber hit the wall at Sainte Devote.