Lewis Hamilton topped FP2 around the tight-walled Monaco ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, showing Ferrari’s edge for the start of the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
FP1 offered drivers a true Monaco experience, with multiple Red Flags and incidents. Despite the disruptions, Leclerc topped the first session, finding his rhythm like usual around his home circuit.
Ferrari set the pace again in the opening minutes, with Leclerc crossing the line with a time of 1:14.175s and Hamilton just 0.2s behind. Mercedes also continued with their pace, getting to the top of the order briefly as the times continued to tumble. Hamilton embarked on another flying lap, putting himself at the top of the timesheets with a 1:13.729s. Max Verstappen slipped into second as he crossed the line with a 1:14.008s. Verstappen was looking far more comfortable in his Red Bull than in Montreal.
Misfortune befell Lando Norris, who was pulled up in the middle of the track, not moving early in the session. The McLaren’s performance had been up and down throughout the season, ranging from double DNFs to multiple podiums. While it’s clear they’ve had the pace, reliability issues continue to pop up to spoil the Papaya’s weekend.
As the session resumed with just under 40 minutes remaining in the session, the Ferrari duo were immediately back on the pace, Leclerc bringing the time down by another 0.1s to 1:13.613s. Hamilton took on his teammate on his first push lap, bringing him close, and on his second push lap, he went ahead of the Monegasque by 0.06s.
But the Maranello team wouldn’t go through the session unchallenged. Verstappen was looking clean, navigating the narrow roads with expertise. The four-time World Champion crossed the line with a 1:13.194s. Verstappen put a significant gap to those behind, with 0.489s to George Russell in second.
Once again, Leclerc was on an impressive personal best lap, looking to go faster than the Red Bull. Leclerc has a unique ability to always find performance around his home circuit. Almost always finding himself near the top of the order. He crossed the line again to go fastest. However, his time of 1:13.137s was quickly beaten by his teammate, who went 0.111s faster.
2026 has been a shift for Hamilton in his second season with Ferrari, with many of the struggles he had in 2025 fading away under the new regulations.
Alex Albon narrowly missed the back of Arvid Lindblad, the Williams driver coming on the radio to note how dangerous the position on the track was. It’s been the second time this weekend that Lindblad has found himself in the way, catching Oscar Piastri off guard in FP1 as well. Luckily, there had been no collisions, but the Rookie’s experience was showing.
As the session time ticked down, the times began to settle, with the team’s focus shifting away from pushing laps. Hamilton came out of the pits with medium tyres.
Disaster for Cadillac
Sergio Perez was coming through Casino Square as smoke began to fill the Cadillac driver’s cockpit. The front-right brake was glowing red, and as Perez pulled over in the runoff area, it caught fire. The Cadillac driver was on a slight slope, which slowed him down as he tried to exit the car, but Marshalls came out and stopped the car, allowing the Mexican to jump out.
With a Red Flag briefly in the session with just over 2 minutes remaining, all meaningful running in the session was over, leaving Hamilton as the top of the order with Leclerc close behind. The Ferraris are quickly becoming the cars to beat around Monaco. However, Verstappen finished third, once again proving you can never discount the Dutchman.
READ MORE: F1 2026 Monaco Grand Prix – FP2 Results
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