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

P. # Driver Team Model Time Gap Laps
1 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF-26 1’13.978 31
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari SF-26 1’14.204 0.226 28
3 3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford RB22 1’14.491 0.513 26
4 12 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes W17 1’14.537 0.559 31
5 63 George Russell Mercedes W17 1’14.983 1.005 29
6 1 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes MCL40 1’15.291 1.313 27
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg Audi R26 1’15.343 1.365 27
8 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes MCL40 1’15.565 1.587 29
9 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi R26 1’15.750 1.772 31
10 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes A526 1’15.828 1.850 32
11 23 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes FW48 1’15.989 2.011 33
12 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Williams-Mercedes FW48 1’16.041 2.063 31
13 6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford RB22 1’16.148 2.170 14
14 11 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari MAC-26 1’16.170 2.192 28
15 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes A526 1’16.189 2.211 32
16 87 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari VF-26 1’16.292 2.314 31
17 31 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari VF-26 1’16.333 2.355 31
18 41 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford 03 1’16.389 2.411 34
19 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford 03 1’16.431 2.453 31
20 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda AMR26 1’16.678 2.700 21
21 77 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari MAC-26 1’17.460 3.482 27
22 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda AMR26 1’17.556 3.578 16

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2026 Monaco Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine