F1: Red Bull's Max Verstappen struggled in practice at the Monaco Grand Prix, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc tore through the tight streets.
It’s only practice, and no practice performance can be truly definitive, but the Monegasque drive emphatically bossed his home streets in the most important Friday practice session ahead of the most important Saturday qualifying of the year.
Performance at Monaco is all about having the confidence to get as close to the walls as possible without lifting. Over three hours of practice drivers slowly decrease their margins until they’re practically rubbing along the barriers. Red Bull Racing was braced for a tough weekend in Monaco, but it didn’t think things would be this bad this early.
The trade-off has allowed the team to dominate at the mainstream majority of tracks but left it struggling this weekend. “It’s inevitable,” Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner said. “We’re in year three of these regulations, and it’s inevitable that you’re going to get convergence. Correcting for tyre compounds, the Aussie would have been roughly fourth in FP2 and possibly Leclerc’s closest challenger.
The Liberty Media era has been less forgiving of Monte Carlo’s anachronisms. In recent contract negotiations it’s won key commercial and broadcast concessions, but it’s not enough. With Monaco’s contract up for renewal after next year’s race, F1 is expected to up the pressure for changes, having convinced organisers during the last round of negotiations that the race is no longer untouchable.
Mansell saw off Arvid Lindblad and Dino Beganovic by just 0.019 seconds in a fraught end to his session, which was called off shortly after his completed his lap when Charlie Wurz ended up in the barriers at Sainte Devote.Normally the series gives all 30 drivers half an hour on track together to dice for the fastest time. The short, narrow Monte Carlo track makes that format an impractical proposition, if not a borderline comical one.
Tyre Compounds Fundamental Mismatch Pre-Weekend Hype Home Poles Pole Battle North America Key Commercial Home Favourite Clive Rose Monaco Western Asia Safe Race Group Starts Home Streets Closest Challenger Las Vegas Contract Negotiations Feature Race Points Run Europe Fernando Alonso Gabriele Minì Possible Outcome Bahrain Western Europe Qualifying Session Christian Mansell Northern America Christian Horner Charlie Wurz Sergio Pérez Liberty Media Corporation Southern Europe Italy Street Venues Insane Reaction Time World Championship Set-Up Choices Genuine Pole Threat United States Of America Bumper Grid Size Australian Driver Title Leader Grid Alternates Agence France Presse Max Verstappen Practice Session Layout Changes America Imola Pole Chances Fraught End Famous Street Circuit Overtaking Opportunity Nevada Getty Images Inc. Charles Leclerc Lap Time Practice Performance Isack Hadjar Front Row Getting Headaches Final Practice Practice Drivers Superlative Form Racing Boss Christian Reverse-Grid Rules Asia Pole Position
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