The first hour of track time was a roller coaster for the hometown hero, who found himself down the escape road at Mirabeau just minutes into the session.

That was thanks to inside front locking, Leclerc able to back his Ferrari out and continue without damage.

The same couldn’t be said at the eight-minute mark, though, when he smashed into the back of Lance Stroll at the hairpin.

The slow-moving Aston Martin driver had moved off the racing line to let one faster car through, before then drifting to the outside right as Leclerc arrived.

The contact was heavy enough to tear half of Leclerc’s front wing, while Stroll was left with rear damage severe enough to rule him out for the remainder of the session.

The exchange prompted the session’s only red flag, allowing Ferrari to fit Leclerc with a new rear wing and get him back out.

From there it was smooth sailing for the reigning Monaco winner, who jumped onto softs and went fastest with a 1m11.964s with 25 minutes to go.

That would stand the test of time, a late effort from Max Verstappen, which fell 0.163s short, as close as anybody could get.

Lando Norris ended up third fastest, and best of the McLarens, despite a trip down the run-off at St Devote in the second half of the session.

Alex Albon was an impressive fourth for Williams while world championship leader Oscar Piastri was only fifth, but did set his time on the medium compound Pirellis.

George Russell was sixth fastest ahead of Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly.

Lewis Hamilton was ninth fastest, his session including a wild moment at the swimming pool where he clipped the wall on the way in and then bounced over the inside kerb launching all four wheels off the ground.

Fernando Alonso was 10th fastest from Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli.

The young Italian was the best of the first-year drivers with Isack Hadjar in 13th, a time set on the mediums, while Kiwi Liam Lawson was another mediums runner down in 17th.

Alpine newcomer Franco Colapinto was 19th, only quicker than the sidelined Stroll.

The day continues with a second hour of practice at 5pm local time (1am AEST).