Ferrari tops interrupted Monaco first practice

Home favourite Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets with a best lap of 1m13.978s, finishing 0.226s clear of Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton to secure a Scuderia one-two.

Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, 0.513s off the benchmark, while Mercedes continued its strong recent form with championship leader Kimi Antonelli fourth ahead of George Russell.

Lando Norris was sixth for McLaren, with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg splitting the papaya cars in seventh. Oscar Piastri ended the session ninth after an interrupted afternoon that included traffic on one of his quicker laps.

The opening hour began with Ferrari showing early pace, although Leclerc’s first laps were not without drama after the Monegasque locked up at Sainte Devote and briefly escaped down the run-off area.

Hamilton initially set the pace as teams worked through hard-tyre running, while Verstappen and the McLaren pair also featured near the top of the timesheets in the opening exchanges.

A brief virtual safety car interruption arrived shortly before the halfway mark when debris from an Alpine was spotted at Rascasse, allowing marshals to quickly clear the circuit before running resumed.

As the track evolved and teams switched to medium tyres, Antonelli moved to the top with a 1m14.537s before the session’s first major interruption came with just over 20 minutes remaining when Isack Hadjar crashed heavily at the exit of the Swimming Pool section.

Moments after Norris had survived a sizeable slide over the kerbs at the same sequence of corners, Hadjar lost control of his Red Bull and slid into the barriers, leaving his car stranded across the circuit and triggering the first red flag of the afternoon.

“I’m sorry!” 😢

Here is the crash which brought Isack Hadjar’s FP1 to a premature end! 👇#F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/mkTiXR7kKT

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 5, 2026

Fortunately for the Frenchman, the damage appeared largely confined to the nose of the car and the session resumed after a relatively short clean-up.

Once running restarted, Ferrari immediately reasserted itself at the top of the order. Hamilton briefly reclaimed fastest time before Leclerc delivered a qualifying-style effort on medium tyres, stopping the clock at 1m13.978s to move clear of the field.

Verstappen improved to third but remained more than half a second adrift of Leclerc’s benchmark, while Norris and Piastri struggled to match Ferrari’s outright pace.

Piastri’s best lap was compromised when he encountered the Racing Bull of Arvid Lindblad at Tabac, forcing the Australian to abandon part of his push lap, while Norris also endured a nervous moment at the exit of the Swimming Pool after clipping the barrier and using the run-off area to avoid further contact.

Drivers throughout the field battled increasingly lively cars as the session progressed, with the 2026 machinery visibly moving around under braking and traction in Monaco’s low-speed corners.

Hamilton was among several drivers to make mistakes, locking up at Sainte Devote and taking to the escape road before rejoining safely.

A second red flag arrived in the closing minutes when Fernando Alonso clipped the wall approaching the Nouvelle Chicane.

The Aston Martin snapped under braking, damaging the front wing and scattering debris across the track. Although Alonso was able to limp back to the pits, the incident effectively ended meaningful running.

The session was eventually resumed with a minute remaining to allow teams to conduct practice starts, though no further representative lap times were set.

Behind the leading teams, rookie Gabriel Bortoleto was ninth for Audi, ahead of Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, while Carlos Sainz, Hadjar and Sergio Perez completed the top 15.

Further down the order, Bearman finished 16^th ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon and the Racing Bulls pair of Lindblad and Liam Lawson. Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll rounded out the field.

Lawson, however, could face scrutiny for a late incident in which he appeared to exit the pit lane under a red light, with the Kiwi quick to jump on the radio to say he saw it too late to stop.

Second practice at Monaco gets underway at 5pm local time (1am AEST).

Results: Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, Free Practice 1