Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton led the way in Monaco Grand Prix first free practice on Friday with McLaren's Oscar Piastri denying Mercedes a surprise one-two at the top of the time sheets.
Hamilton, Formula One's most successful driver and a three-time Monaco winner, sounded gloomy earlier about his prospects but still put down a best time of 1:12.169 on soft tyres.
Australian Piastri, also on softs, was 0.029 slower than Hamilton with Mercedes' George Russell third fastest and McLaren's Lando Norris fourth.
Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen had several brushes with the barriers and was 11th, 0.815 off Hamilton's pace, but without doing a quick lap on the soft compound.
“The car is so loose on the bumps. Any interaction with engine braking or brake bias, it's just making it worse,” he said over the radio.
Teammate Sergio Perez suffered a puncture and was 12th fastest.
Ferrari's home hero Charles Leclerc, who is yet to stand on the podium in Monaco but is second overall in the standings, lapped fifth fastest and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was sixth and ahead of Canadian teammate Lance Stroll.
RB's Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo lapped eighth and ninth fastest respectively with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz completing the top 10.
Red flags were waved with 15 minutes remaining when Sauber's Guanyu Zhou clipped the tyre wall and scattered debris on the track, with Leclerc running over some of it and damaging his Ferrari.
Verstappen leads Leclerc by 48 points after winning five of seven races this year.
The Dutch driver won in Monaco last year and has qualified on pole for a record-equalling eight races in a row, seven this season.
Saturday's qualifying session promises to be far more exciting than the race, which is often processional and dictated by grid position.
Hamilton leads Piastri in first Monaco practice
Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton led the way in Monaco Grand Prix first free practice on Friday with McLaren's Oscar Piastri denying Mercedes a surprise one-two at the top of the time sheets.
Hamilton, Formula One's most successful driver and a three-time Monaco winner, sounded gloomy earlier about his prospects but still put down a best time of 1:12.169 on soft tyres.
Australian Piastri, also on softs, was 0.029 slower than Hamilton with Mercedes' George Russell third fastest and McLaren's Lando Norris fourth.
Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen had several brushes with the barriers and was 11th, 0.815 off Hamilton's pace, but without doing a quick lap on the soft compound.
“The car is so loose on the bumps. Any interaction with engine braking or brake bias, it's just making it worse,” he said over the radio.
Teammate Sergio Perez suffered a puncture and was 12th fastest.
Ferrari's home hero Charles Leclerc, who is yet to stand on the podium in Monaco but is second overall in the standings, lapped fifth fastest and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was sixth and ahead of Canadian teammate Lance Stroll.
RB's Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo lapped eighth and ninth fastest respectively with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz completing the top 10.
Red flags were waved with 15 minutes remaining when Sauber's Guanyu Zhou clipped the tyre wall and scattered debris on the track, with Leclerc running over some of it and damaging his Ferrari.
Verstappen leads Leclerc by 48 points after winning five of seven races this year.
The Dutch driver won in Monaco last year and has qualified on pole for a record-equalling eight races in a row, seven this season.
Saturday's qualifying session promises to be far more exciting than the race, which is often processional and dictated by grid position.
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