Great performance from Ferrari, with Leclerc in excellent form. But it’s only Friday…
After the weekend in Imola, Formula 1 heads roughly 500 kilometers north to the Principality of Monaco for the most glamorous event on the 2025 calendar. On home soil, the fastest driver in both Friday sessions was Charles Leclerc, who looked particularly lively behind the wheel of the SF-25. Despite the car’s clear disadvantage compared to the McLaren this season, he showed that he can still be a contender for pole position tomorrow.
In Monte Carlo, tyre strategy will be crucial: Pirelli has opted to stick with the same selection used in Imola, bringing the three softest compounds—C4 (Hard), C5 (Medium), and C6 (Soft). However, this year the FIA has introduced an important new rule aimed at making Sunday’s race less predictable: drivers are now required to make two mandatory pit stops.
This decision was made by the FIA specifically to avoid a repeat of the “processional race” seen in the 2024 edition, when the top four drivers completed all 78 laps on a single set of tyres, having taken advantage of the red flag caused by the terrifying first-lap crash involving Sergio Perez and the two Haas cars to make their only mandatory pit stop “for free.”
Indeed, at the Monaco circuit, the chances of a Safety Car—or even a red flag—are always high, and that could completely shake up the teams’ strategies. A perfect example is the Formula 2 Feature Race last season, when Zak O’Sullivan claimed victory by making his mandatory pit stop on the penultimate lap, taking advantage of a Virtual Safety Car period.
Race pace analysis FP2 Monaco: here are the Friday afternoon lap times.
In a session marked by two brief red flags, during the last 15 minutes all drivers ran short simulations with slightly heavier fuel loads—except for Isack Hadjar, who touched the barriers exiting Saint Devote, damaging the suspension of his Racing Bulls car.
Despite the great importance of qualifying on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo, the teams chose to run a short race simulation, mainly to identify the best possible strategy with the two mandatory pit stops.
In the short long run he completed today, Charles Leclerc appeared to be the driver most at ease on the streets he has known since childhood, showing great speed and consistency—one of the main challenges faced by the Maranello team so far this season.
Lewis Hamilton also confirmed Ferrari’s strong form today, although his race simulation was slower than his teammate’s. Even though it’s only Friday, it seems that returning to the 2024 rear wing has helped improve performance on the Monte Carlo street circuit.
McLaren appears to be a step behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, although both drivers have still shown potential, especially on the flying lap. In particular, Oscar Piastri didn’t complete a long run after his track time was disrupted by an error at Saint Devote, which caused the second red flag of the session. Meanwhile, Lando Norris completed 9 laps, consistently lapping around 1:14, except for his final laps which were in the 1:15 range.
Max Verstappen appeared to struggle more today, still unable to find a good rhythm with his Red Bull. During his long run, the Dutch driver even had a lengthy off-track excursion at Mirabeau, fortunately without any consequences. However, the reigning world champion should never be underestimated, as he has already shown this season that he can make a difference on a flying lap.
PHOTO: Scuderia Ferrari HP, F1, McLaren F1 Team, GPKingdom.
