Leclerc fastest in Monaco GP FP1 after collision with Stroll

Ferrari’s home hero Charles Leclerc has topped the timing boards at Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix after he survived a run-in with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. 

Feature image credit: Scuderia Ferrari

Leclerc didn’t have the cleanest session at his home grand prix as the Monegasque suffered a rear-end collision with Stroll within the first 10 minutes of the session. 

As the Ferrari driver approached the iconic hairpin, Stroll darted across the circuit to open up the corner, but he hadn’t anticipated the Monegasque behind. 

Leclerc couldn’t avoid a collision and rear-ended the Canadian. The two soon returned to the pit lane as a red flag was waved. The latter was worse off on the incident as he was sidelined for the remainder with a broken rear suspension and gearbox change. 

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How did the first hour finish?

Leclerc was fastest overall after the first hour of the session with a lap time of 1m 11.964s. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen occupied second just a tenth behind as McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top three, in third. 

The championship leader, Oscar Piastri, finished the session in fifth, half a second behind. This left Williams’ Alexander Albon to fill in the gap in fourth. 

Mercedes’ George Russell led the bottom five in the top 10, ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, in seventh to 10th, respectively. 

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was the fastest driver among the bottom 10, in 11th, as he finished the opening hour eight-tenths off the pace of Leclerc. He was also the final driver to finish within a second of the Monegasque’s best time. 

Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber), Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) and Oliver Bearman completed the top 15, in order. 

This left Esteban Ocon of Haas to lead the bottom five drivers, in 16th, as Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) and Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) finished 17th and 18th. 

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was the second last driver, in 19th, as Stroll completed the classification in 20th.

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Weather Report: The latest ahead of F1 Monaco GP
• Who finished Where: Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
• Max Verstappen commands Emilia-Romagna GP F1 victory
• Yuki Tsunoda granted to start Emilia-Romagna GP
• Franco Colapinto gets one-place grid penalty for Emilia-Romagna GP
• Alpine’s Franco Colapinto risks ‘severe’ penalty for the Emilia-Romagna GP

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.