Charles Leclerc was at the top of both practice sessions at the Monaco Grand Prix, as Daniel Ricciardo continued the season from hell as he slipped to the side in a crash barrier, his damaged McLaren being lifted off the track by a crane.
The Australian emerged unharmed from Prang, which occurred in the first right lap of the second practice session and dropped him from the entire session.
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“It was weird. I think if someone crashes there, you usually see when they exit that they can take a lot of business in turn 14 and then lose the car. But I’ve already started losing the car before turn 13,” he said. Ricciardo said.
“We’ve probably pushed some areas a bit away with the set-up. We had a good morning and obviously you try some things for FP2 and try to increase the performance a bit more but let’s just say we’ve got it over and you don’t I don’t know until I try.
“Of course, this was my first lap so I obviously didn’t read too much into it, it happened directly.
“I tried my best to save it, but I couldn’t. Obviously, we missed all the sessions, but I’m fine.
“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 was at the top of both practice sessions on Friday, where the Ferrari driver could use a win to get back to the top of the Formula One standings on his home track.
Ferrari’s day was very close as Carlos Senz Jr. was the second fastest behind teammate Leclerc.
The Red Bull was behind the Ferrari drivers as Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen were the third and fourth fastest but Ferrari lacked one-lap speed.
Spain lost a Leclerc F1 point lead last week. Current F1 champion Verstappen has won three races in a row to knock Leclerc off the top of the standings. Leclerc has won two of the first three races to create a 46-point lead in the standings, but Verstappen has won four and now Leclerc is six points ahead.
But Leclerc inspired Monaco; He never finished an F1 race on the streets of his own city. He is so comfortable with the circuit that he cycled from his apartment to the track, and although he won the pole last year, he never started racing because of the loss of his Ferrari.
Mercedes, meanwhile, had a frustrating pairing of practice sessions with George Russell and seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton. Both Ferrari and Red Bull follow in the footsteps, and the new Mercedes is called “porposing” – an aerial problem where cars bounce off the track.
Hamilton battled it out in the second practice on Friday and was 12th on the speed chart, 1.61 seconds behind Leclerc.
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