Monaco Grand Prix – Practice 1 – Good start for Sainz and Ferrari – F1fan.gr

Carlos Sainz was fastest in Practice 1 in Monaco, which ended a few minutes earlier than expected due to a red flag. Behind Alonso and Hamilton, you became Red Bull.

The conditions during this first test session in the Principality of Monaco were very good, with satisfactory air and road temperatures, while humidity levels were low. Given that the weather in Monaco is basically unsettled, and that Sunday’s forecast is confusing, Friday’s move could provide data that could be overturned if it rains. Piastri, de Vries and Sargeant raced for the first time in Formula 1 cars at the Monaco circuit.

The drivers took a hard compound on the rails, except for the Ferraris and Lando Norris, who chose the intermediate device to start their tests. As a result, they were the three fastest drivers in the first ten minutes of the three-day action.

As expected on the narrow and slow roads of Monaco the drivers faced a lot of congestion problems on their fastest laps, and the blue flags continued to fly throughout the length of the circuit.

The Haas of Magnussen and Hulkenberg, who were in 7th place, had a very good pace and a hard set.^of and 11^of position respectively when they took off the tires, but also the impressive Yuki Tsunoda who reached 5th place.^of position before entering the pits after the first position. Alfa Romeo was disappointingly fast once again.

Max Verstappen and George Russell had problems with their cars. The Dutchman had previously complained to his team about the lack of balance at the rear of the car, with the Mercedes driver describing his rear end as “weak and unreliable”.

Meanwhile Hulkenberg’s left rear wheel spun after coming into contact with the side wall. As a result, debris was left on the track and the wall had to be repaired, which brought a red flag to the track for a few minutes.

In the final stage, the drivers put on the middle tires with a little more pressure in the last quarter. This changed the lead with Sainz and Alonso setting faster times than Lewis Hamilton who was the fastest in the sport up to that point.

As the drivers were doing their final test in P1, Alex Albon lost control of the Williams and hit the barriers which damaged the rear of his car. The red flag came out again, but with just 3 minutes on the clock that was the end of the proceedings.

Just behind Hamilton in 4th place^of the position was Sergio Perez, ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen, who, due to his problems, moved conservatively in the process. Norris, Ocon, Stroll and Albon completed the top ten in the first Monaco test session. In 15th place was George Russell, who failed to gain speed despite the improvements brought by his team.

The drivers did not use the softest compound in this P1, despite the importance of Qualifying at this circuit. This is expected to change as we approach Saturday afternoon when the starting grid for Sunday’s race will be decided.

The Monaco game resumes at 18:00 Greek time for Practice 2. Detailed results of Practice 1: