Leclerc leads Ferrari one-two as Hadjar crashes at Swimming Pool in first practice

Charles Leclerc set the pace at his home circuit in the opening practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix.

However the first hour of running was red-flagged twice due to crashes. Isack Hadjar suffered the hardest hit at the Swimming Pool chicane, causing extensive damage to his Red Bull.

As track conditions improved rapidly during the hour of running, Leclerc set a best time of 1’13.978 with seven minutes remaining. That the beat the 1’14.204 his team mate Lewis Hamilton set moments earlier but was around two seconds off the pace in the same session last year, when Leclerc was also fastest.

Max Verstappen was third-fastest for Red Bull, giving them some encouragement after Hadjar’s crash. His younger team mate had an unusual crash at the exit of the Swimming Pool as the back end of his Red Bull came around on the way in, sending him over the exit kerb and into the barrier. “I don’t understand why it snapped like that,” said the mystified driver before he climbed out.

Several drivers were unable to complete flying laps when the track was at its best late in the session due to a second red flag. Fernando Alonso lost control of his Aston Martin under braking for the chicane and clouted the barrier on his right-hand side, damaging his AMR26’s front wing.

The session restarted with one minute remaining, which only left enough time for the remaining drivers to complete practice starts. World championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli therefore ended the session fourth-quickest ahead of team mate George Russell, though the pair had been on par with the Ferraris earlier in the session when running on the hard tyres.

Lando Norris went off at the Swimming Pool moments before Hadjar did so more destructively. The McLaren driver ended the session sixth, two places ahead of team mate Oscar Piastri, who was badly held up by Arvid Lindblad at Tabac.

Nico Hulkenberg put his unusually yellow-hued Audi in between the McLaren pair. Team mate Gabriel Bortoleto underlined their potential with the ninth-fastest time ahead of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and the Williams pair.

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2026 Monaco Grand Prix first practice result

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