Monaco GP: Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen to lead ‘tight’ pole battle after Ferrari-dominated practice | F1 News

Charles Leclerc said Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen both looked “very strong” during Friday practice in Monaco as he predicted a “very tight” battle for pole position between the leaders at his home grand prix.

Tipped as favorites to win the principality’s street circuit by their main rivals before the race weekend began, Ferrari appeared to confirm that status by finishing first and second fastest in both of Friday’s practice sessions.

Leclerc and Hamilton each set the pace in the session, the latter leading tenth in the fastest second hour of the race, as Ferrari went in search of their first pole position of the season since October 2024 to set up a shot at their first grand prix win on Saturday.

Verstappen outpaced their nearest rivals to finish within two tenths of their pace, but championship leaders Mercedes – who have claimed and won five grands prix poles so far in 2026 – were 0.3 seconds behind.

Meanwhile, McLaren unexpectedly struggled throughout Friday a year after Lando Norris’ victory at the circuit, finishing a full second behind the Ferraris in both sessions.

Leclerc said he had struggled with the brakes on his SF-26 all day and was therefore happy to finish the day in the mix at the front with Hamilton and Verstappen.

“Max was very strong. Red Bull was very strong and Lewis was very strong,” Leclerc said after covering the top three by 0.168 seconds.

“At the end of the day, it wasn’t a disastrous day. We’re very close to Lewis in FP2. I’m not that worried but it’s going to be a tough qualifying to confirm and it’s going to be very tight.

“If we can take a step forward with the brakes, it could help us fight for the pole.”

Leclerc ran off the track twice at the start of the race, including on his first lap from the pits at Mirabeau, and said: “We’ve had a few problems with the brakes on my side, so we’re trying to fix them.

“Confidence is not at the highest level at the moment. Other than that, it’s a track I like and I’m sure if we can fix them (issues) for tomorrow, it will be a good step.

“Unfortunately, from Canada, I’m struggling a bit so we’re trying to find a solution. I hope to do it for tomorrow and, if so, I don’t doubt we’ll take a step forward.”

With only one driver per team giving a TV interview on a non-Sprint weekend at the end of Friday and Leclerc doing the honors at his home event, it meant pacesetter Hamilton’s thoughts came through Ferrari’s end-of-day press release.

Hamilton said: “Overall it was a positive day and the car felt pretty good from the first lap.

“The team did a solid job with the changes we made between the two sessions and we were able to work through our program without any major issues.

“Monaco is always a very different challenge, being close to the barriers, so it’s not easy to find the right balance and put everything together. There’s still performance to be had and tonight we’ll focus on the details, because the margin here is very small and there’s a lot of work to do before qualifying.”

‘Team to beat Ferrari’ – Mercedes endure ‘more challenging’ start

On the evidence of Friday’s race, Mercedes look set to stand firm on Saturday to extend their run of pole position to six races at the start of F1’s new era in a qualifying session that often dictates the outcome of Sunday’s race at the narrow road venue.

And while not surprised to see Ferrari leading at the slower circuit, which plays to their cornering strengths, George Russell said the opening day was more challenging than the Silver Arrows expected.

“We expected Ferrari to beat the boys,” said Russell, who finished tenth quicker than title-leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli in an improved second practice showing from Britain.

“A lot of people thought it was just chat but, obviously, they are the team to beat. Red Bull were a bit of a surprise for us as well.

“By far we knew this was going to be our most challenging yet.

“It was probably a bit more challenging than we expected but we made some good improvements from FP1 to FP2

“We have to make the same move overnight and I don’t think we did today. So there is room for improvement, but definitely the Ferrari team.”

Is McLaren already out of contention?

Meanwhile, McLaren had a challenging day with Norris suffering a possible power unit-related problem that cost him 45 minutes of crucial track time in second practice.

Norris, who won last year’s Monaco Grand Prix, said it had been a “difficult day” and the car was “just off”.

“We’re obviously off the pace and have to make up time over the whole lap. It’s disappointing to lose track time today, because it’s always important in Monaco,” he said.

“We will work hard overnight to try to get more performance out of the car, but realistically it will be difficult to compete at the front of the field this weekend compared to our competition.”

McLaren were more than a second behind the pace-setting Ferraris in both practice sessions, something Norris and Oscar Piastre weren’t surprised about.

“Unfortunately, Piastri said, “it’s not quite as fast as we’d like it to be.”

“A bit of a tough one. I think we made a bit of progress for FP2 but we went one and a half to two seconds off, so it was definitely a tough day for us. There’s a few things to figure out overnight, of course.

“We always expect Ferrari to be fast – and they look very fast – but we were hoping we would be a bit closer. Let’s see what we can try and put together for tomorrow.”

Sky Sports F1’s Monaco GP live schedule

Saturday 6th June
9.40am: F3 sprint
11.15am: Monaco GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Monaco GP qualifying build-up
3pm: Monaco GP Qualifying*

Sunday, June 7
6.50am: F3 Feature Race
8.30am: F2 Feature Race
10.50am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Monaco GP Build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: Monaco Grand Prix*
4pm: Monaco GP Reaction: Checkered flag*

*Also on Sky Sports main events

Watch the Monaco Grand Prix, the first of six races in eight weeks, on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime