Ferrari put up its strongest showing since 2019 during second practice for Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix as home hero Charles Leclerc led the way.
Ferrari, currently fourth in the standings, emerged with the fastest one-lap package through the second one-hour session in warm and sunny conditions at the Circuit de Monaco.
Leclerc clocked a time of 1:11.684s during the Soft tyre runs to finish 0.112s clear of team-mate Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc had previously sat out almost all of the opening practice session due to a gearbox failure.
The Ferrari drivers were the only duo able to dip into the 1:11s during the course of the session.
Title rivals chasing Ferrari
Honours have so far been shared between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen this year but the pair had to settle for third and fourth respectively.
Hamilton recovered from a scruffy first push lap on Softs to finish as Ferrari’s nearest opponent but was still almost four-tenths down on Leclerc’s best.
Verstappen, chasing a maiden Monaco podium, was just seven-thousandths of a second behind his title rival.
Valtteri Bottas was fifth overall, within a tenth of Hamilton and Verstappen, while Lando Norris was the lead McLaren driver in sixth spot.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was seventh, and the last driver to classify within a second of leader Leclerc, as Sergio Perez took eighth for Red Bull.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was an eye-catching ninth with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel rounding out the top 10.
Past Monaco winners Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo were a low-key 11th, 12th and 15th respectively.
Schumacher shunt ends session early
The session was relatively free from drama, with only rookie drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher encountering major issues.
Tsunoda swiped the barriers exiting Piscine and while he was able to recover his damaged AlphaTauri AT02 to the pit lane he did not re-emerge, leaving him with only 11 laps under his belt.
Schumacher, meanwhile, drifted wide through the left-hander at Massenet and clattered into the barriers.
Schumacher tried to take his damaged Haas VF-21 back to the pit lane but stopped at the exit of the chicane due to the broken right-rear suspension, causing the session to be halted five minutes early.
Saturday’s final practice session is scheduled for 12:00 local time
Position Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.684 30 2
Carlos Sainz Jr Ferrari 1:11.796 0.112 32 3
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.074 0.390 28 4
Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:12.081 0.397 27 5
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:12.107 0.423 32 6
Lando Norris McLaren 1:12.379 0.695 24 7
Pierre Gasly RB 1:12.498 0.814 28 8
Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:12.708 1.024 26 9
Antonio Giovinazzi Sauber 1:12.746 1.062 28 10
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1:12.982 1.298 26 11
Kimi Raikkonen Sauber 1:13.065 1.381 31 12
Fernando Alonso Alpine 1:13.175 1.491 27 13
Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:13.195 1.511 26 14
Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:13.199 1.515 28 15
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1:13.257 1.573 26 16
George Russell Williams 1:13.509 1.825 32 17
Nicholas Latifi Williams 1:13.593 1.909 31 18
Nikita Mazepin Haas 1:14.407 2.723 26 19
Mick Schumacher Haas 1:14.416 2.732 25 20
Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:14.829 3.145 11
