F1 News: Leclerc puts Ferrari on top in 2nd Monaco GP Practice

Charles Leclerc turned a lap of 1m11.278s in his #16 Ferrari to top the 2nd practice for the 2024 Monaco GP Formula 1 race.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Leclerc’s time was nearly 2/10ths of a second faster than Max Verstappen’s pole lap last year.

After topping Practice 1, Lewis Hamilton backed it up with the 2nd best time in his #44 Mercedes, 0.188s behind Leclerc.

Hamilton never dominated at this track, but he has won here three times in his career. He certainly knows how to nail a lap around the streets of Monte-Carlo, and today has been one of his better Fridays. P1 in FP1, P2 in FP2.

Fernando Alonso put the Aston Martin third best, 0.475s behind the Ferrari of Leclerc.

Last year’s Monaco GP winner, Max Verstappen, could only manage the 4th best time, 0.535s behind in his #1 Red Bull.

Lando Norris rounded out the top-5 for McLaren, 0.675s behind Leclerc.

James Vowles said he was surprised with how hard the Red Bulls were hitting the ground out there. Do they need to adjust their ride height? Both drivers were complaining about jumping, with Perez calling the ride “horrendous.”

They turned things around last weekend after a difficult Friday, and they need to do similar here to be a factor tomorrow.

So, fastest on the mediums, then fastest on the softs and with only one rival within two tenths of a second. Leclerc looks quick, the car looks good and the Monegasque driver looks dialed in here. All of which bodes well heading into qualifying day tomorrow.

2024 Monaco GP Practice 2 Results