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Lewis Hamilton set the benchmark in Friday's second free practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, clocking a 1m 13.026s on Pirelli's soft tyres under gorgeous late-afternoon sunshine in the Principality. The time put him a tenth clear of Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc and just a handful of hundredths ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, as the Scuderia extended their grip on the top of the timing screen.
The session got underway at 1700 local time with drivers eager to maximise every available lap around Monaco's notoriously unforgiving streets, where confidence and rhythm are as valuable as outright pace. Ferrari wasted no time in asserting themselves — picking up exactly where they had left off in FP1, with Leclerc immediately posting a 1m 14.240s on mediums and Hamilton following with a 1m 14.306s aboard their SF-26s.
Improvements came quickly. Hamilton pushed the benchmark down to a 1m 13.729s, though he kept the Ferrari pit wall on edge with a couple of slides through the high-speed Piscine section. Verstappen slotted into second, a couple of tenths adrift, while Leclerc sat third and the Mercedes pair of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell completed the top five — Russell also suffering a wild moment exiting the Swimming Pool complex and narrowly avoiding the barriers.
The session's middle phase brought contrasting fortunes for Red Bull and McLaren. Isack Hadjar delivered a welcome radio message — "Thank you, boys" — as he rejoined the circuit in his repaired RB22 after crashing out of FP1. The relief was short-lived on the other side of the garage, however, as Lando Norris ground to a halt at the Nouvelle Chicane in his MCL40, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car and halting what had been a productive opening phase.
The stoppage was a significant blow for McLaren, who are celebrating their 1000th Grand Prix weekend in Monaco — a milestone that now carries an unwanted shadow heading into the rest of the session. Norris remained sidelined for the duration.
Once the VSC ended, Verstappen led the charge on soft tyres, moving to the top with a 1m 13.467s. Both Hamilton (1m 13.549s) and Leclerc (1m 13.613s) improved on mediums to sit second and third respectively, before the full soft-tyre runs from the field reshuffled the order.
On the softs, Ferrari restored their 1-2 with Hamilton's 1m 13.026s leading Leclerc by just over a tenth, and Verstappen marginally slower in third. Russell ended up fourth despite being impeded by Gabriel Bortoleto at the start of his soft-tyre run, with championship leader Antonelli fifth after reporting over the radio that "the car in Sector 2 is so unpredictable."
Hadjar continued to accumulate laps in sixth for Red Bull, followed by Oscar Piastri in the sole surviving McLaren, with the Audi duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Bortoleto and Haas' Ollie Bearman rounding out the top ten. Alpine's Pierre Gasly took 11th.
Further back, Williams pair Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon lined up 12th and 13th, while Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson sandwiched Franco Colapinto's Alpine — Colapinto himself finding the barriers at Sainte Devote during the session. Esteban Ocon wound up 17th in his Haas.
The session was ultimately ended by a red flag in the dying moments when Sergio Perez's cockpit filled with smoke, bringing proceedings to a premature close. The Cadillacs and Aston Martins propped up the order alongside the stranded Norris.
All eyes now turn to FP3, which is scheduled to begin at 1230 local time on Saturday, as teams analyse a substantial body of data ahead of what promises to be a tightly-contested qualifying session.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.