#MonacoGP FP2: @Max33Verstappen quickest ahead of @ScuderiaFerrari duo. #F1

Verstappen Monaco GP FP2 – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen returned to the top of the time-sheets in FP2 at the Monaco GP ahead of Ferrari pairing Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz who were second and third respectively with the latter causing a red flag with a crash.

Verstappen’s benchmark was a 1:12.462 posted on the C5 red side-walled softer compounds and was a narrow 0.065 seconds faster than Leclerc with Sainz a further 0.107 seconds adrift of the Dutchman.

Almost the majority of the field began with the C4 yellow-marked medium tyres, except for the hard-starting Ferrari pairing, and the top time on the leaderboard continually changed hands as the lap-times tumbled.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was among the first of the drivers to set a time, but it didn’t last long at the top as the Circuit De Monaco continued to rubber in; Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton posted efforts in the high 1:15’s, until Verstappen jumped to the top with a 1:15.487.

Mercedes’ George Russell found 0.005 seconds to move into P1, but Bottas then reclaimed top spot before he was rapidly beaten by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

The Frenchman was displaced by Alonso, who went almost a second quicker before Verstappen scored a 1:13.985.

Alonso attempted to beat the Red Bull driver, but his 1:14.227 effort fell in sector three as his opening sector was initially faster. Hamilton was successful to hit P1, by a very narrow 0.001 to his 2021 title-rival, but then Verstappen out-done the Briton with a 1:13.857.

Verstappen’s next effort showcased his control, with a 1:13.567 followed by a 1:13.312 to bring the medium-tyre running to an end.

In the qualifying simulation runs, Alonso jumped the Dutchman with a 1:12.786 and held P1 for a good ten minutes until fellow Spanish-compatriot Sainz hit a 1:12.569 to reclaim his time-topping efforts from the earlier FP1 session.

Although Verstappen was quickest on his qualifying simulation run on the softs in the opening sector, but lost ground in the final two sectors and put his RB19 into third, in-front of Leclerc, who was struggling with his SF-23 “jumping” through the tight corners.

Alonso also flew to the fastest sector one on another softer tyre effort, but lost ground due to traffic in the final part of the tour and was unable to surpass Sainz on that occasion – and was off by 0.113 seconds.

After stringing a better effort together on his next flyer, Verstappen set the session-topping 1:12.462 despite not posting any purple sectors.

Leclerc was less than a tenth away from Verstappen and overcame Ferrari team-mate Sainz to take second.

Sainz then caused a red flag after taking the wrong line at the exit of the Swimming Pool complex, clipping the inside wall and coming to a halt in the barrier to force a stop in proceedings with his broken front-right suspension.

FP2 resumed with 12 minutes remaining when the stationery SF-23 was recovered by the marshals, but there was no more qualifying simulation runs as long data gathering became the focus until the end.

This secured Verstappen’s P1 by a narrow 0.065 margin to Leclerc whilst Sainz could not improve on that third best after his shunt.

Alonso was fourth fastest, just two-tenths in-front of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who suffered a delay to the beginning of the session as electrical problems required fixes in the Woking based-outfit’s garage. The Briton’s “Triple Crown” liveried MCL60 later suffered further issues, and was ordered to minimise his throttle inputs ahead of an unwelcomed return to the pits.

Hamilton put his updated F1 W14 Silver Arrow into sixth as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez followed in seventh.

Bottas beat the two Alpine A523 entries of Pierre Gasly and Ocon to take eighth.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll placed outside the top ten in 11th place on the classification and in-front of Mercedes’ Russell who was 12th and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who took 13th.

Haas F1 Team duo Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg finished Free Practice 2 in 14th and 15th respectively and ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries who followed in 16th and 17th.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri ended the day in 18th and in-front of Williams Racing duo Logan Sargeant and Albon who brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Grand Prix De Monaco 2023 Free Practice 2 Results Classification here at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1210/monaco/practice-2.html

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