Formula 1 continues its adventures at Monaco for the 2025 season. FP2 saw several developments in team dynamics over the course of an hour, with a lot more incidents than the other sessions.
Ferrari looked very strong on Friday while McLaren seem to have fallen off the pace. Red Bull has been hit the hardest as both the junior team drivers had better pace at FP2. Are things turning around for Ferrari or is this a fluke?
Ferrari show-off strong pace on Friday
Ferrari seems to be on a high this weekend. The Prancing Horses had great pace during both practice sessions. Charles Leclerc topped the time sheet for both the sessions and remained uninterrupted afterwards.
The Monegasque is the favourite to win the Monaco Grand Prix. He won the race last year, becoming the first Monegasque driver to win their home race and he would hope to continue this streak.
Charles Leclerc Tops FP1 in Monaco After a Difficult Session
Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, has had polar opposite performances in the practices. He was P9 for the first practice but P3 in FP2. The Ferraris looked far better in FP2 in terms of performance. Come qualifying, we will know exactly where the Crimson team stands in terms of their hope to win their first race of the season.
Low grip conditions catch drivers out on a tricky Monaco surface
Monaco is already known to be a difficult track to drive in but Friday’s conditions made it worse. The track suffered from a lower temperature, resulting in lower grips for the whole grid.
The grip issues was evident from the various flags waved during the whole session. Isack Hadjar brought out the first red flag of the session when he hit the wall coming out of the tunnel. The Racing Bull had a broken wheel but managed to limp to the pits.
The second red flag was brought out by Oscar Piastri, who had a lockup and went into the wall. However, since his damage was limited to the front wing, he was able to head back into the session.
Piastri found the barriers at Turn 1 in FP2 but avoided major damage 👀#F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/7AvIfHPKuw
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 23, 2025
Even reigning champion, Max Verstappen, brought out a yellow flag when he locked up and went into a runoff area. Overall, most teams seemed to be struggling to find grip, resulting in worse-than-normal results.
However, Williams and Aston Martin showed some great pace, despite the tough track conditions. Alonso managed to maintain a lead at P1 for a long while and was consistently in the Top 5. Albon and Sainz maintained their pace in the top 5 as well, showcasing that the race results are anyone’s game at Monaco.
We are slated for an exciting weekend at Monaco, especially considering the mandatory two-stopper. The disrupted team dynamics can result in a very interesting race and maybe even few unexpected faces atop the podium stands.
