The Grande Prêmio de Mônaco de Fórmula 1 weekend started with the local team at the front. Charles Leclerc clocked a time of 1:13.978 and secured the lead in the first free practice session on the streets of Monte Carlo, this Friday. The Monegasque driver beat Lewis Hamilton by a narrow margin and confirmed the good initial performance of the red cars on the urban circuit.
The opening session was used for the teams to make initial aerodynamic and mechanical adjustments for the remainder of the European stage. Max Verstappen closed the list of the top three, although the Dutch competitor reported difficulties with the setup of Red Bull’s car. The young Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto overcame mechanical obstacles in his Audi to secure a place among the ten fastest competitors on the final time sheet.
Charles Leclerc sets the initial pace on Monte Carlo’s urban track
The first official activity on the schedule saw Charles Leclerc taking advantage of Monte Carlo’s in-depth knowledge of curves to dictate the pace of the practice session. The home representative used soft compounds in the final phase of training to set a mark that no one could surpass. Lewis Hamilton alternated the lead with the Monegasque driver for much of the morning, demonstrating that the German team has the competitive pace to trouble its direct opponents.
Max Verstappen faced drivability issues throughout the initial hour of open track on the street circuit. The three-time champion complained on the radio about the behavior of the rear axle on the undulating Monegasque asphalt. Mesmo with the fluctuations, the Dutchman secured third place in the final moments. Red Bull engineers worked in the garage to correct shock absorber pressure before the second activity of the day.
Gabriel Bortoleto faces mechanical problems and reacts in the final minutes
The rookie Gabriel Bortoleto experienced a first training session of ups and downs on the Europa track. The Brazilian began working with hard compound tires to reconnoitre the track and even recorded the ninth provisional time. Logo later, the Audi car began to present chronic problems with gear transition and stability in low-speed curves. The driver fell to nineteenth place in the general time table while the team looked for solutions in the pits.
The Brazilian’s recovery only happened after a forced stoppage on the track due to an accident. The team put the Gabriel Bortoleto single-seater on medium compound tires for the last fast laps of the morning. The young man managed to improve his splits in the three sectors of the track and climbed to twelfth position before the final attack. In the last attempt, the Brazilian completed a clean lap to guarantee definitive ninth place.
- Charles Leclerc secured first place with a time of 1:13.978
- Lewis Hamilton was in second position on the final time sheet
- Max Verstappen secured third place despite vehicle complaints
- Gabriel Bortoleto finished in ninth place after switching to medium tires
- Isack Hadjar had an accident in the final part and caused a red flag
Batida of Isack Hadjar stops activities with red flag
Free practice went without major incident until Isack Hadjar lost control of the vehicle when approaching one of the narrowest curves on the circuit. The driver hit the metal protective barrier hard and damaged the car’s front left suspension. The track inspectors acted quickly to signal the danger to other competitors who were following closely behind.
The race management immediately raised the red flag to ensure the safety of those involved in rescuing the destroyed car. The stewards had to use a crane to remove the Isack Hadjar single-seater from the runway. The interruption lasted around ten minutes and reduced the time available for teams to test racing components. The pilots returned to the route in a hurry to make the most of the last moments.
Official Programação Weekend Grande Prêmio from Mônaco
The activities of Grande Prêmio and Mônaco continue this Friday with the second free training session, scheduled for noon according to Brasília time. The public will be able to follow the broadcast of this additional training through the closed channel sportv3. The final adjustments to the cars take place on Saturday morning, starting at 7:30 am, in the third official free session of the Federação Internacional and Automobilismo schedule.
The crucial moment of the weekend occurs on Saturday, at 11am, with the definition of the starting grid for Sunday’s race. The qualifying session will be shown in full on sportv3. The Grande Prêmio main race of Mônaco takes place on Sunday, with the start scheduled for 10am. Globo TV broadcasts the event on open television nationwide, while the ge portal monitors the seventy-eight laps of the race in real time.