Charles Leclerc topped both practice sessions at the Monaco Grand Prix, while Daniel Ricciardo’s season from hell continued when he slid sideways into the crash barriers, with his damaged McLaren lifted off the track by a crane.
The Australian emerged unscathed from the prang, which occurred on his first proper lap of the second practice session and ruled him out of the entire session.
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“It was strange. I think if anyone crashes there you normally see on the exit if they take maybe too much kerb in Turn 14 and then lose the car. But I already started losing the car pretty much before Turn 13,” Ricciardo said.
“We pushed a little too far probably in a couple areas with the set-up. We had a good morning and obviously you try a few things for FP2 to try and maximise a bit more performance but let’s say we overstepped it and you don’t know until you try it.
“Obviously, it was my first lap so I couldn’t really get much of a read on it obviously, it happened straight away.
“I tried my best to save it, but I couldn’t. Obviously, we missed all of the session, but I’m okay.
“Anyway, tomorrow we have a chance again and I’m sure they’ll fix the car tonight and put it in a good place for tomorrow.”
Charles Leclerc topped both of Friday’s practice sessions, where the Ferrari driver could use a victory on his home track to return to the top of the Formula One standings.
Ferrrari had a solid close to the day as Carlos Sainz Jr. was second-fastest behind teammate Leclerc.
Red Bull was right behind the Ferrari drivers as Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen were third and fourth fastest but lacked the one-lap speed of Ferrari.
Leclerc lost the F1 points lead last week in Spain. F1’s reigning champion Verstappen has won three consecutive races to knock Leclerc from the top of the standings. Leclerc won two of the first three races to build a 46-point lead in the standings, but Verstappen has four wins and now leads Leclerc by six points.
But Leclerc is motivated at Monaco; he’s never finished an F1 race on his hometown streets. He’s so comfortable with the circuit that he cycles to the track from his apartment, and although he won the pole last year, he never even started the race because of damage to his Ferrari.
Mercedes, meanwhile, had a disappointing pair of practice sessions with George Russell and seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton. The duo both trail Ferrari and Red Bull in speed and the new Mercedes has struggled with what’s called “porpoising” – an aerodynamic issue where cars hop and bounce on the track.
Hamilton struggled in Friday’s second practice and was 12th on the speed chart, a whopping 1.61-seconds behind Leclerc.