ALL ON RED IN MONTE CARLO, EVEN IF IT`S ONLY THURSDAY

The Scuderia Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., topped the time sheet at the end of the second free practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix. A good sign for the rest of the weekend, although it must be judged with the usual caution, especially as the two teams at the top of the championship standings did not show their full potential today.

FP1. The first session definitely did not get off to the best of starts for Charles, who after just four laps had to pit with a gearbox problem. However, Carlos got through his planned programme, completing 32 laps, all of them on the Pirelli Medium tyres. His best time of 1:12.606 was good enough for second place on the time sheet.

FP2. In the afternoon, the team ran different programmes with each driver. On his first run, Sainz used the Hard tyres, while Leclerc, back on track having had his gearbox changed, used the set of Mediums he had been unable to try in the morning. Both men then switched to the Softs for the qualifying simulation, setting their best times: 1:11.684 for Charles (30 laps) and 1:11.796 for Carlos (32 laps).

Day off. As usual, at this race, the Formula 1 cars have a day off tomorrow. The action resumes on Saturday at 12 with the final hour of free practice before qualifying at 15.00. The 78th Monaco Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday at 15.00.

Charles Leclerc: "It was quite a surprise to have the day end so well, after we had a difficult start this morning. It’s important to do as many laps as possible, especially here in Monaco, and with the issue we had in FP1 I only completed 4 laps."

"In FP2, I felt at ease with the car and we may even have a bit of margin there to improve. But we shouldn’t get too carried away, because I am convinced that our competitors have more in hand. We have a day of work ahead of us tomorrow, and we will only know where we really stand on Saturday."

Carlos Sainz Jr.: "It has been a very positive first day for the team here in Monaco, but we know it is only practice. Things can change a lot from Thursday to Saturday at this track, so we will stay focused. Despite being quite happy with the car, we’ll keep working hard over the next two days to understand where we can improve. I really missed driving around these streets. I enjoyed myself in both sessions, pushing the car little by little to try to find the limit. Lets’ fine-tune everything to put together a strong Saturday!"