F1 Monaco GP: Mercedes ahead, though day for Stroll
THURSDAY FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS SAW MERCEDES SEVEN TENTHS AHEAD OF FERRARI
Lewis Hamilton(1’12.106) topped the time sheets in both sessions ending the 1st practice 0.059 ahead of Red Bull Racing Max Verstappen and 0.072 over teammate Bottas. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were fourth and fifth.
In the second practice, Hamilton(1’11.118) and Bottas(1’11.199) were a good seventh tenths ahead of closest rival Ferrari Sebastian Vettel. Pierre Gasley(Red Bull Racing) and Alex Albon(Toro Rosso) completed the top 5.
A day to forget for Lance Stroll at the Monaco GP as he struggled for pace in both practice sessions and placed 18th and 19th respectively.
“It’s not been the easiest day. We took things steady this morning and tried to build up our speed gradually, but the car isn’t where we need it to be just yet,” Stroll mentioned. “We’re missing some speed so we need to work hard tonight and tomorrow to understand where we can make some improvements.”
Sergio Perez ended in P15 and P16 today and is confident more time can be found out of the car for Saturday practice and qualifying. “We completed lots of laps today, but I haven’t found the Monaco rhythm just yet and I think that shows in our performance today,” Perez said. “We need to find a good step if we want to be in the fight for Q3 so there’s a big night ahead of us and we need to make good use of the extra day tomorrow. The car doesn’t feel too bad – the balance is okay, but we are still on the back foot. With some fine-tuning we can definitely make things better. Understanding the data and making good decisions is a real strength of this team so I’m confident we can be in a better position by Saturday afternoon.”
Image: Racing Point F1
