F1 Monaco Grand Prix practice LIVE: Stream, TV channel and full race schedule as Leclerc goes fastest in FP2 – latest

LEW AGE

Mercedes champion Lewis Hamilton is also impressed with Ferrari’s imrovement.

British superstar Hamilton finished third in Practice Two

He said: “The Ferraris are really strong.

“Surprising to see them improve so much, but it’s great – it means more competition”

VERSTAPPEN REACTS

Red Bull star Max Verstappen was very surprised with Ferrari’s performance as he finished fourth.

Verstappen said: “I’m surprised how competitive Ferrari is.

“I think it just shows that we are pretty weak.

“They are doing very well and we are very weak, so then the offset is very big.”

PRACTICE LATEST

Ferrari have stood out in the opening day of the Monaco Grand Prix by besting title challengers Mercedes and Red Bull during the second practice.

Ferrari led with both their cars in the afternoon around the famously tight and twisty streets of the Principality.

Hometown hero Charles Leclerc beat team-mate Carlos Sainz by 0.112s with a best lap of 1:11.684.

Ferrari have yet to make the podium this year and last won a race two seasons ago, but have significantly improved

TOP TEN IN FP2

1. LEC – 1:11.684 gives Monegasque a Thursday to remember
2. SAI – A Ferrari one-two after the Spaniard topped FP1!
3. HAM
4. VER – 0.007 seconds behind the Mercedes
5. BOT – Just over two-hundredths back from Verstappen
6. NOR – Comfortably ahead of Ricciardo again
7. GAS
8. PER – A second off Leclerc
9. GIO
10. VET

SCH-WHACK-ER

Michael Schumacher leaving his Haas in the Nouvelle Chicane run-off has done for FP2, leaving him to inspect the damage to the right-hand side.

Nothing too serious, it seems.

THAT’S THAT

Teams are asking race director Michael Masi if they can jump back out for a practice start.

But it has been confirmed that the session will not be restarted, so don’t hold your breath, fellas…

THE WRECKAGE

Well, not quite that bad. Here’s the evidence of Schumacher’s skirt along the barrier outside the casino.

RED FLAG

An early end to the session as the last four minutes look set to be under the red flag.

This is most likely linked to Schumacher’s said off, which cannot be retrieved at the Nouvelle Chicance run-off area.

DONK

The Monte Carlo casino is probably used to seeing some risks not paying off and the Haas of Mick Schumacher is the latest… losing his grip and riding along the barrier at Massenet.

A tyre puncture means the young German hobbles into the run-off area by the chicance under the guard of yellow flags.

FINAL TEN

Race runs the order of the day as the second practice session edges towards its conclusion.

Teams will pile on the fuel and gather some lovely data.

Worth remembering we don’t know the fuel levels or how turned up the engines are when looking at the timesheet.

FERRARI ONE-TWO

Charles Leclerc takes advantage of a quiet moment on track to go fastest, just ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz.

That is a surprise!

Meanwhile, no sign of Yuki Tsunoda recently, currently sat plumb last.

The live scenes of his AlphaTauri garage show some mechanics focused on the back end of his car, which he dinked against the barrier about half an hour ago.

FULL CHAT

You may have been surprised by some of those names in the top ten at halfway and you can thank the Soft tyres for that.

After a fuller set of times on the quick set, Carlos Sainz has plonked his Ferrari at the top of the leaderboard with a 1:11.796.

Lando Norris is fifth and Charles Leclerc sixth.

And Sebastian Vettel is in the top ten and jokes his eyes are ‘bleeding’ and blames it on being ’emotional’ as he shrugs off the chance to pit.

TOP TEN AT HALFWAY

1. BOT
2. HAM
3. GIO
4. SAI
5. VER
6. PER
7. GAS
8. RAI
9. OCO
10. LAT

SOFTLY SOFTLY

Lewis Hamilton pulls on the quickest Soft tyre for a hot lap.

A couple of slides leave him only second, just behind Valtteri Bottas who is the new P1 after his first Soft attempt.

REVERSE

Nicholas Latifi has lost it at the Grand Hotel Hairpin.

The Canadian describes it as a ‘very weird pushing moment’ but it looks like he just went in too hot.

Luckily, he avoided the barriers and could shimmy out.

HARD TO BEAT

Carlos Sainz going great guns on the Hard tyre, in third.

The Hard this week is actually the ‘softest’ Hard we can have this season, with the Soft the ‘softest’ of the five grades of tyre Pirelli make for F1.

That is because Monaco is incredibly undemanding on tyres, given the lack of high-speed corners.

HAM IT UP

We’re through the 1m 12s barrier after Lewis Hamilton’s first proper lap put him dead level with Max Verstappen’s time.

Both drivers have now ramped it up a touch more and Verstappen is just under half a second off, shortly followed by Sergio Perez.

MOVING THROUGH THE GEARS

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez clocking in some quick laps on the Medium tyres.

The Red Bulls take the top two but neither time is as fast as what we had this morning, so expect them to dial it up plenty more.

Lewis Hamilton’s first hot lap is aborted after his misses the Nouvelle Chicane.

PRINCE CHARLES

No surprise to see Charles Lecleric among the first out during this session.

His morning was cut short after only six minutes of FP1 due to a gearbox failure, while Carlos Sainz put in a very strong second place.

GREEN LIGHT

FP2 is underway in Monaco!

PRACTICE TWO

Settle in for the afternoon session, coming up shortly.

And relive FP1 below…

MONA-NO

George Russell has shelved plans to move to Monaco while he focuses on his F1 future.

The British racer is in pole position to replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes as the Finn also weighs up his options.

Russell, 23, had planned to relocate from King’s Lynn to Monte Carlo in the summer but says Covid restrictions and his contract situation means he is staying put.

He said: “I will be checking out some places to live after the race but I will probably postpone the move until later in the season.

“While the covid cases and logistical issues are still around and it makes it a bit difficult.

“Over the next few months, it is an important time for the drivers. Contract talks are coming up for 2022 and having that stability at home is important for myself and it means I can give it everything I have got on the racing side.”

HOME FAVOURITE

It was a session to forget for Charles Leclerc as his Monaco curse continued with a failed gearbox after just a couple of laps.

But the Monegasque homeboy, still yet to complete a race around the circuit, has the locals right behind him this weekend.

THURSDAY SESH

Why are we here? 

A good question, as ever, but the Monaco GP is unique in hosting F1 practice on a Thursday.

The reason is that the principality’s streets remain open to public traffic in the morning and evening across the weekend, and spreading out the various support series means more time to accommodate it all.

For example, the track reopens as a normal street at 6.30pm tonight.

That also allows time for hotels, restaurants and such to restock for the spectators typically flocking to the city.

There is still track action taking place tomorrow, namely in the F2, Formula Renault and Porsche Supercup.

STAY TUNED

Free practice 2 will get underway at 2pm, we’ll be keeping you right up to date with all the action and provide some news updates in the meantime.