|
Lewis Hamilton was the
quickest driver in the final free practice session today in Monte Carlo. On
the street circuit, the seven-time world champion set a lap time more than a
tenth of a second quicker than his team-mate Charles Leclerc. Behind the
Ferrari pair, Max Verstappen recorded the third-fastest time. All three
drivers set their best lap on the C5 compound.
In FP2, all drivers,
with the exception of Lando Norris and the two Aston Martin cars, ran both
the C4 and C5 compounds. Norris was forced to stop his car after just seven
laps on the Medium compound, while the Aston Martin drivers completed the
entire session using only the Softs.
Hamilton stopped the clocks at
1:13.026, Leclerc at 1:13.137 and Verstappen at 1:13.194. As is tradition on
Fridays at the Monte Carlo street circuit, the drivers completed a large
number of laps to build confidence with the track: Hamilton and Leclerc, for
example, both covered 34 laps, while Verstappen completed 33 laps in the
second session.
While the Ferrari drivers completed the majority of
their running on the C4, Verstappen worked mainly with the C5. The three
fastest drivers also reflected the general trend across the rest of the
field, which showed a fairly balanced usage between the two compounds.
The Hard C3 was instead used during the early phases of the first
session, after which almost everyone switched to the Medium. Only the
Cadillac drivers used the Soft tyres in FP1. At the end of the first hour,
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were the fastest, followed by Max
Verstappen in third place.
Simone Berra: Chief Engineer:
Most teams started the Monaco weekend using the Hard compound, with the aim
of assessing track conditions and allowing the drivers to build confidence
with the circuit. The C3 will in all likelihood be the least-used option in
the race, in a scenario that should point towards a one-stop strategy,
barring any neutralisations.
Over the course of the day, the other
two compounds proved to be consistent. The long runs completed by some
drivers did not show any particular degradation, while graining, although it
appeared on some front axles, did not impact performance.
Today’s
fastest lap times are just three tenths of a second away from the quickest
lap indicated by the teams’ simulations. It is therefore plausible that,
already in qualifying, also thanks to the further evolution of the track,
which is traditionally very pronounced in the Principality, lap times
quicker than the forecasts could be recorded.
To achieve a strong
qualifying performance, it will be crucial to bring the Soft compound into
the correct operating window. Teams may adopt different approaches to
achieve this, taking into account the unique characteristics of the circuit.
In strategic evaluations, managing traffic will also be critical,
particularly in light of the presence of two additional cars on track this
year.
FORMULA 2:
Despite an impact with the barriers at the start of the session and the
resulting forced stop in the pit lane for several minutes, Rafael Camara
still managed to secure pole position. A pole of great importance on the
streets of Monaco, where overtaking is notoriously very difficult.
In
Formula 2, qualifying is split into two groups, and it was Nikola Tsolov,
running in Group B, who claimed second position. The Bulgarian was just over
a tenth of a second slower than Camara and will therefore start from the
second grid slot in Sunday’s race.
Although Alex Dunne was faster
than Tsolov in qualifying, the Irishman still has a grid penalty to serve
and will therefore not start from second place on Sunday. Third place on the
grid will be occupied by Dino Beganovic.
The compounds selected for
the Monaco round are the two softest in the range: Soft and Supersoft. Most
drivers will start the main race on the Softs, waiting for a neutralisation
or a red flag to make the switch and finish on the Supersofts. As we know,
the probability of a Safety Car is high and strategy, including the
possibility of an overcut, will be crucial to bringing home a positive
result.
FORMULA 3
In the second race weekend of the season for the Formula 3 drivers,
Théophile Nael will start from pole position in Sunday’s race. The Campos
driver was the fastest in Friday’s qualifying session. Brando Badoer set the
second-fastest time and will therefore line up P2 on Sunday, while Freddie
Slater qualified in third position.
The compound chosen for the
Monaco event is the Soft. The characteristics of the street circuit and its
low speeds mean that degradation does not have a significant impact,
allowing drivers to push for the entire duration of the race and defend
their position if necessary, despite overtaking being very difficult.
Neutralisations, which are frequent on this track, allow drivers to recover
performance and provide an advantage to those who are able to bring the tyre
up to temperature most effectively at the restart.
|
