Charles Leclerc went fastest in FP1 for the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, despite colling with Lance Stroll just moments after the start of the session.
The home hero’s 1:11.964s was enough to see him go top, with Max Verstappen seconds, one-and-a-half tenths behind.
Lando Norris was third, a further two tenths back, with Alex Albon in fourth. Oscar Piastri and George Russell were fifth and sixth respectively.
Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton rounded-up the top 10, the session ending in a more mundane fashion compared to that of its start.
Barely 10 minutes into the session, Leclerc’s pre-2024 streak of bad luck in his home country returned.
After having an excursion down the run-off area at Mirabeau, Leclerc was able to turn himself back around, but moments later, it got a whole lot worse.
Having let one car through on the approach to the hairpin, Stroll’s Aston moved back onto the racing line at a snail’s pace, right into the path of the oncoming Ferrari.
The left side of his front wing was damaged, but was able to drive back to the pits for repairs.
It was a swift recovery for Leclerc, who, after returning to the track, looked rapid, displacing Norris at the top of the timesheets.
For Stroll, it was the end of his session, giving Adrian Newey a bleak opening couple of minutes in his first time seeing the Aston Martins turn a wheel in anger.
However, with around 15 minutes of the session remaining, Leclerc pitted and reported that there was something “wrong” with the car.
Hamilton has his own moments towards the end of the session, nearly being collected by unsighted traffic at Massenet, and then skipping over the kerbs at Turn 16, having kissed the barrier on the corresponding entrance to the chicane.
READ MORE – F1 2025 Monaco Grand Prix – FP1 Results
