FP2: Home hero Leclerc sets the pace during busy second practice in Monaco from Hamilton and Alonso

Charles Leclerc ended Friday at the Monaco Grand Prix on top after going fastest during second practice, with the Ferrari driver looking to enjoy a strong weekend at his home event.

After a briefly interrupted FP1 hour – with red flags being thrown to clear debris due to Zhou Guanyu having touched the barriers – the drivers were keen to hit the track as FP2 got under way, with Lewis Hamilton leading out a queue from the pit lane.

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Amid traffic issues for some, there were early concerns at Mercedes as George Russell reported vibrations through his steering wheel. It wasn’t a smooth ride for Max Verstappen, either, who complained of headaches from “jumping like a kangaroo” in the Red Bull.

Leclerc was comfortably on top of the timesheets after the initial laps, with a benchmark of 1m 11.573s on the medium compound. Many then bolted on the soft tyre, with Leclerc ultimately bettering the Dutchman’s time by half a second.

Drivers were clearly pushing as the session wore on, with Yuki Tsunoda, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen amongst those to clip the walls, though all escaped without significant consequences. Hamilton, meanwhile, managed to put himself within two-tenths of Leclerc’s fastest time.

The Monegasque’s lap of 1m 11.278s remained unbeaten throughout the remainder of the hour, with Hamilton having a decent outing in P2 ahead of Fernando Alonso in third for Aston Martin. Verstappen – who had a bit of a run-in with Yuki Tsunoda in the latter stages, feeling that he was blocked by the Japanese driver – took fourth place.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from a busy first practice session in Monte Carlo as Zhou hits the wall

Lando Norris was the lead McLaren in P5, only one hundredth of a second clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in P6, while Lance Stroll claimed P7 for Aston Martin, followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in P8, who had earlier reported issues with the ride of his RB20.

Alex Albon and George Russell rounded out the top 10 for Williams and Mercedes respectively, with Tsunoda slotting his RB in 11th from Piastri – who did not run the soft tyre on his McLaren during the session – in 12th.

Kevin Magnussen set the 13th fastest time in the Haas, as Esteban Ocon followed in 14th after kissing the barriers in his Alpine later in the hour. Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg took 15th place, with former Monaco winner Daniel Ricciardo 16th in the RB.

After limited running in FP1 owing to a wastegate issue, Pierre Gasly could only manage P17 for Alpine, ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant in P18, with the American one of the first to lightly clip the barriers in the session.

FP1: Hamilton leads Piastri and Russell during interrupted opening practice in Monaco

The Kick Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, meanwhile, brought up the rear in P19 and P20 respectively. Neither driver used the soft tyre, as was the case for the RB pair.

With Friday’s track action now complete, the teams and drivers will have the opportunity to examine their data before returning for third and final practice on Saturday at 1230 local time, prior to qualifying later in the day.