The Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) set the best time this Friday, June 5, in the first free practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, the sixth round of the Formula One World Championship, which is held in the streets of the principality of the Côte d’Azur. The Spaniards Carlos Sainz (Williams) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), who hit his car against the barriers, scored the twelfth and twentieth times, respectively.
In the best of his 31 laps, Leclerc covered the 3,337 meters of the Monte Carlo street circuit in 1 minute, 13 seconds and 978 thousandths, 226 less than his teammate, the seven-time British world champion Lewis Hamilton, who did three laps less and recorded the second best time.
The session was briefly interrupted on two occasions with a red flag due to the accidents, without major consequences, of the Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), in front of the garage area, and the Asturian double world champion Fernando Alonso, who hit his AMR26 against the protections at the exit of the tunnel.
The Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), four-time world champion, finished third, more than half a second behind Leclerc. One place behind was the Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), leader of the championship and, at 19 years old, the youngest in history, who was 559 thousandths behind the Monegasque in a session in which the majority achieved their best lap with medium tires.
Sainz rode little and, in the best of his 14 laps, he was just over two seconds behind the local idol’s time. Alonso, who suffered his accident with three minutes left in the test and damaged the front wing and part of the right front suspension, completed 21 laps on a track where he achieved two of his 32 victories in Formula One. In his best attempt, also with medium tires, he was exactly 2 seconds and 700 thousandths behind Leclerc.
Hadjar’s accident was more serious than Alonso’s and the damage to the Red Bull was greater than that suffered by the Aston Martin.
The Mexican Sergio Pérez (Cadillac) set the fourteenth best time, this time with soft tires. In his best of 28 laps he was 2 seconds and 192 thousandths behind Leclerc.
For his part, Argentine Franco Colapinto (Alpine), who has just finished sixth in Canada, recorded the fifteenth time. In his best of 32 laps, with medium tires, he was behind the Monegasque driver.
The second free practice will begin at 5:00 p.m.