The two Ferrari SF-26 cars closed the first and second free practice sessions of the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix with the fastest times in both sessions, though not in the same order. Charles Leclerc topped FP1 with a 1:13.978 on medium tyres, and Lewis Hamilton turned it around in FP2 with a 1:13.026 on softs. No driver from outside the Italian team managed to get between the two in either session.

FP1 was cut short by Hadjar's crash

Hadjar hit the barriers and brought out a red flag that interrupted the programme before most of the grid could set their fast laps on soft tyres. The reference time ended up in the hands of Leclerc and Hamilton, who had gone out on mediums and didn't need more to head the timesheet. Verstappen finished third, 287 thousandths behind Leclerc, followed by the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Norris was sixth with a 1:15.291.

Photo By Ferrari

Ferrari in FP2 with a bigger margin over the rest

In the second session Ferrari were first to settle at the top of the times on medium tyres. Hamilton went down to 1:13.549 and Leclerc to 1:13.613 on that compound, with Verstappen slipping between them during that stint. When they switched to softs, Ferrari extended the gap to the rest. Hamilton reached 1:13.026, Leclerc 1:13.137, and Verstappen was the only driver from outside the Italian team to stay close with 1:13.194. Russell was fourth with 1:13.405 on a lap that he himself reported was affected by traffic from Bortoleto in Sector 2. Antonelli closed out the top five with 1:13.529.

Norris arrived at McLaren's 1,000th weekend with only eight laps under his belt

Norris's stop at the Nouvelle Chicane in the middle of FP2 triggered the Virtual Safety Car and left him without completing his run plan. At the end of the session he had just eight laps recorded and the 19th fastest time, 2.248 seconds behind Hamilton. McLaren faces this Grand Prix with the label of the 1,000th event in its history, and its driver closest to the championship arrived on Saturday without enough information on the behaviour of the MCL40 in Monte Carlo.

Pérez stopped the session with a brake fire

The red flag that cut FP2 short in its final minutes came from the Cadillac of Sergio Pérez, whose cockpit filled with smoke because of a fire in the right‑front brake. Pérez was in 18th place with a 1:15.116, more than two seconds off the fastest time. The session was not resumed.

Third practice starts on Saturday at 12:30 local time, and qualifying follows that same afternoon. In Monaco, that order decides almost everything.

Practice 2

Pos.	No.	Driver	team	Best	gap	laps
1	#44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:13.026	-	36
2	#16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:13.137	0.111s	36
3	#3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:13.194	0.057s	35
4	#63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:13.405	0.211s	35
5	#12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:13.529	0.124s	35
6	#6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	1:14.087	0.558s	24
7	#81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:14.088	0.001s	31
8	#27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	1:14.094	0.006s	34
9	#5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	1:14.359	0.265s	35
10	#87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	1:14.456	0.097s	37
11	#10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:14.497	0.041s	37
12	#55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	1:14.512	0.015s	34
13	#23	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:14.600	0.088s	39
14	#41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	1:14.748	0.148s	37
15	#43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1:14.758	0.010s	31
16	#30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	1:14.785	0.027s	36
17	#31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	1:14.845	0.060s	35
18	#11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	1:15.116	0.271s	31
19	#1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:15.274	0.158s	8
20	#14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:15.294	0.020s	30
21	#77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	1:15.759	0.465s	28
22	#18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:16.174	0.415s	27