Charles Leclerc finished fastest and Lewis Hamilton was third as Ferrari set an eye-catching pace in Practice Two to cap an impressive Friday at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Despite Leclerc having stressed on Thursday that Ferrari’s 2025 car was unlikely to be as suited to the low-speed twists and turns of Monaco as last year’s, when he claimed pole and won his home race, the Monegasque still topped both of Friday’s practice sessions.

Leclerc set a best lap of 1:11.355 in a second session which featured two red flags for crashes to narrowly finish ahead of McLaren’s championship-leading Oscar Piastri and Ferrari team-mate Hamilton at the head of the timesheet.

“Ferrari are the big story,” said Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok.

“This is a very impressive day considering the expectations coming in.”

A late fast lap saw Piastri split the Ferraris, the Australian recovering well after a rare mistake saw him run straight into the barriers at Ste Devote, the iconic track’s opening corner.

The impact broke the front wing on Piastri’s car but he was able to make it back to the pit lane and, following repairs, steadily moved his way back up the timesheet to eventually finish just 0.038s behind Leclerc.

Hamilton, a three-time winner in Monaco, was 0.105s behind Ferrari team-mate Leclerc in third to offer hope of his most competitive weekend yet at the Scuderia.

Lando Norris was fourth in the second McLaren, ahead of the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar who both finished in the top six. Hadjar was sixth despite twice hitting Monaco’s omnipresent barriers, first at the harbourside chicane and then Ste Devote.

But the senior Red Bull team experienced another difficult Friday, finishing down the timesheet.

World champion and Imola victor Max Verstappen was only 10th, just one place and one tenth ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. The Dutchman was one of many drivers to be frustrated by traffic around Monaco’s tight confines after several near-misses with slower-running cars, and had a late off-track moment himself into the Ste Devote run-off.

Mercedes also appeared to struggle, finishing ninth and 12th with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, respectively.

More to follow…

Sky Sports F1’s Monaco GP schedule

Saturday May 24
9.40am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Monaco GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.10pm: Monaco GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: MONACO GP QUALIFYING
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday May 25
6.55am: F3 Feature Race
8.35am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Monaco GP build-up*
2pm: The MONACO GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Monaco GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
5.30pm: The Indy 500

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Next up in F1’s European triple-header is the ‘Jewel in the Crown’, the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, with coverage starting on Friday live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime