As the F1 cars hit the Monaco street circuit for the first time this year, Charles Leclerc went fastest in FP1, giving his home fans a glimmer of hope. But are these premature celebrations for Ferrari fans, or have they found pace in the SF-25 to have a positive result this weekend?
The Monaco GP’s FP1 session was difficult for the drivers. There is a lot of pressure on Charles Leclerc this year, as he won the race last year and is the home hero. So far, the Ferrari has not had the best season, but can they turn things around this weekend in Monaco?
Charles Leclerc fastest, but faced troubles in FP1 in Monaco
Right off the bat, Leclerc found no grip as Ferrari released him from the garage for the first time. Just on his warm-up lap, he locked up his front right tyres and went straight into the run-off area. While he was able to continue, he had another incident just a few minutes later.
Just 15 minutes into the session, Leclerc ran into the back of a slow Lance Stroll, who did not notice the blue flags and got in the racing line. Charles lost his front wing, bringing out the red flags. Luckily, there was not much damage to the Ferrari, but Lance Stroll was no longer able to continue the session as his gearbox had to be changed.
🏁| FP1 at Monaco is over!
Here are your top 10 from the session!#F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/WS4vZNIQvg
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) May 23, 2025
On paper, Ferrari does not have the fastest car. But Leclerc still managed to fight the car for P1 in FP1. Max Verstappen managed to log the 2nd fastest time, but was still over one and a half-tenths of a second behind Leclerc. The McLaren of Norris completed the top 3, still 3 tenths behind the leader.
Lewis Hamilton in the other Ferrari only managed to go 9th fastest as he was not able to find balance in the car. The same issue was faced by Leclerc as well, but he managed to pull a quick lap time.
Traffic will be a problem for the Monaco GP
One thing we can look out for in the upcoming sessions is the traffic. Given how narrow the circuit is, it is very challenging for drivers to give way to others who are in a hot lap. We saw a glimpse of it in FP1 with Stroll’s incident with Leclerc and several other instances where drivers were held up because of traffic.
We can expect the same for the rest of the practice sessions and the Qualifying session later today.
Here’s how Leclerc damaged his front wing 🎥
Sound on 🔊#F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/lZkuzU2WoG
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 23, 2025
One other aspect which could be interesting is the track conditions. Given that it is a street circuit, the track is going to be very dusty during all the sessions. This means that drivers will find the maximum grip towards the end of every session as the cars lay down more rubber.
This will increase the excitement during qualifying, as the timings at the end are going to be the only ones that count.
This is going to be one exciting weekend. Do you think Charles Leclerc can find pace in the Ferrari to take pole position? Let us know in the comments section below.
