Charles Leclerc plays down F1 Monaco GP chances despite perfect Friday

Charles Leclerc believes it’s “too early to feel positive” about a strong result at Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix, despite the Ferrari driver topping both Friday practice sessions.

The Monegasque endured an early fright in FP1 when he clipped Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin at the Grand Hotel Hairpin, as the Canadian failed to see the Ferrari and slowly moved back onto the racing line having let traffic already pass.

But Leclerc soon got into his stride, and set the only FP1 laptime within the 1m11s – his 1m11.964s just under 0.2s faster than Max Verstappen.

He continued to find more time in FP2, setting a series of quick laps on soft tyres to eventually file a 1m11.355s; Oscar Piastri got close to that headliner, but ultimately fell short by 0.038s.

Leclerc, who had played down his chances before the weekend, was asked if he was still convinced Ferrari would struggle at the Monte Carlo circuit.

“Maybe a bit less convinced, but let’s say I’m not convinced the other way either,” Leclerc said.

“I think for now, a Friday in Monaco is always very special, very specific. I think everybody is taking a bit their reference.

“It’s too early to feel very positive about the weekend, but let’s say that Friday has been very positive for us. I’ve been feeling pretty good with the car. 

“It hasn’t started the way I wanted with the crash with Lance, but after that it’s been pretty smooth and I’m happy overall with the car.”

Leclerc agreed that capitalising on qualifying pace on Saturday was still going to be vital in the race, although the addition of a second mandatory stop may well open the door to more strategic plays for victory.

He said that the Ferrari also felt good on all three of the compounds Pirelli had brought to the weekend, which could theoretically open the door to using the C5 medium in qualifying.

“Yes, the one-lap pace was strong,” he added. “Whatever compound we were on, I was feeling quite comfortable and the lap time was coming pretty quickly, so that’s always a good sign. 

“Qualifying is going to be fundamental around here and we’ve got to be starting in front if we want to hope for a good result.”

Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton was in high spirits following practice, particularly in his effusive praise of the Monaco circuit – which he branded “the best rollercoaster ride”.

The seven-time world champion stated that he was generally happy with the Ferrari package from the get-go, and that more changes were needed from his driving rather than any overnight set-up tinkering.

“I think in the time, I would say there’s more to find in my driving in lines, in braking. I’ve got one tenth, for example, just in Turn 1,” he said.

“But there’s bits here and there throughout the lap. On the car there are subtle changes I think need to be made, but I will not be making many changes at all. 

“We might change one small thing, like a quarter of a degree of camber or something like that, but maximum I think that would be it.”