Charles Leclerc set the early pace in Practice 1 at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The local hero would post a 1m14.531s as drivers dialled themselves in around the streets of Monte Carlo.
Sergio Perez had a steady start but improved to second for Red Bull, ahead of Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari as the top three were covered by just 0.07s.
Max Verstappen was fourth after a lock-up into Sainte Devote damaged his second set of tyres, limiting his pace while others improved as the circuit quickened up.
The main talking point throughout the session was the ride as drivers adjusted to the stiffer 2022 cars on the narrow streets.
The first session of the weekend is done. ?
Solid start. Let’s build on this for FP2, team. ? #MonacoGP ?? pic.twitter.com/zPz2hSDbbp
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 27, 2022
Some teams were better than others with McLaren enjoying a competitive start in fifth for Lando Norris and seventh for Daniel Ricciardo.
Likewise, Pierre Gasly was higher than he has been in recent races in sixth for AlphaTauri.
The team complaining more than most though was Mercedes as both drivers reported severe bouncing. This meant George Russell was only eighth and Lewis Hamilton 10th, either side of Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin.
Further down, Alpine eased their way into the weekend with Fernando Alonso 13th and Esteban Ocon 16th.
Haas had a tricky FP1 as Mick Schumacher caused a brief red flag by stopping with a gearbox problem at the pit-lane entry, limiting the German to just 12 laps.
? RED FLAG ?
Schumacher is stranded at the pit lane entry following an issue with his car#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/fLZlOGY9uN
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2022
The most compromised team though was Alfa Romeo who had big hopes coming into the Monaco weekend.
Zhou Guanyu was only 17th as he tackled the Monte Carlo track for the first time in an F1, while Valtteri Bottas only did two laps before a gearbox problem ended his session without setting a lap time.
Though there were no significant hits against the barriers, there were a few close calls, notably Alex Albon almost losing his car on the bumps exiting the tunnel.
Multiple drivers also made the usual errors of running deep into Sainte Devote and skipping across the Nouvelle Chicane and Swimming Pool chicane.
With the early settling in period done then, it will be interesting to see how the order changes when the soft tyres are used during Practice 2 later on Friday.
Full results from Practice 1 can be seen below:
? FP1 CLASSIFICATION ?@Charles_Leclerc finishes P1 in our first session of the weekend ?#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/MOd8vg4HYj
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2022
