MONTE CARLO: Charles Leclerc topped the times for Ferrari at his home Monaco Grand Prix in Friday’s opening free practice, finishing a closely-contested session narrowly ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. The 24-year-old Monegasque driver clocked a fastest lap of one minute and 14.531 seconds, outpacing the Mexican by just 0.039 seconds on a very warm day in the Mediterranean principality. His Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz was third ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, with tonsilitis-suffering Lando Norris fifth for McLaren. The top three were within 0.070 seconds and the top 10 separated by less than a second, signalling how competitive the action had been. Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpha Tauri ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the second McLaren and the two Mercedes of George Russell and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who were split in ninth by Sebastian Vettel.
After their improved form in Spain, Mercedes’ Hamilton was unhappy with the return of porpoising in his car, grumbling in the closing laps that “it’s so bouncy out here, man, I’m losing my mind”. On a perfect Riviera afternoon, the action began with a track temperature of 54 degrees and the air at 28, inviting conditions for all involved and the many Leclerc fans basking in the sunshine. Everyone departed immediately, keen not to waste any track time, and Sainz swiftly set a marker lap before the times tumbled rapidly and, after 10 minutes, it was Leclerc who led, in 1:16.020, ahead of Sainz and Verstappen. Norris, still battling tonsilitis, was fourth ahead of Hamilton.
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