F1 – Verstappen goes fast in final practice in Monaco as Hamilton brings out red flags

F1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen beat Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez by seven-hundredths of a second in final practice for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix. Barriers at Mirabeau corner.

At the start of the session, Perez took an early lead with a lap of 1m 15.641. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, meanwhile, was forced back into the pit lane on his first run as he suffered a loss of electricity that almost stopped him in the tunnel. Perez went down with a 1:14.990, but the Mexican was soon beaten by McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was deposed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Perez was quick again this time with a lap of 1:14.377.

Verstappen then appeared for the first time and he eclipsed his teammate by half a second to take first on his first flying lap. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was quick, however, as he moved into P1 with a lap of 1:13.697.

Perez was back at the top of the order in the first half of the session, but Verstappen set another fast pace ahead of his team-mate with a 1:12.898 before Perez responded with a 1:12.849. , the Dutchman posted a lap of 1:12.776 to take P1.

As the final 10 minutes of the session approached, Haas stopped on the track at Portier and the virtual safety car was released, placing his car in the middle of the track. This prevented Alonso from placing in the qualifying sim, resulting in the Spaniard ending the session on 14th.^Th Place.

As the session progressed following the recovery of Magnusson’s car, Hamilton moved quickly and was placed in the fastest first division. But the Mercedes driver’s hopes of moving up the timesheet ended when he lost the rear of his car entering the Mirabeau corner and then slid forward into the barriers.

Red flags were displayed and while his car had recovery time, race control indicated that the session would not be restarted.

So Verstappen maintained his lead over Perez with Stroll in third. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth, 0.485s behind Verstappen. Norris finished fifth ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, while Charles Leclerc, who reported fighting with his Ferrari’s balance, ended the session in seventh.

Hamilton’s crash denied him the chance to finish eighth, while Ocon managed to finish ninth ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas after his earlier problems.

2023 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing RBPT 1:12.776 19 165.070
2 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:12.849 0.073 24 164.905
3 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:12.942 0.166 20 164.695
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:13.261 0.485 20 163.978
5 Lando Norris McLaren 1:13.396 0.620 21 163.676
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:13.453 0.677 24 163.549
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:13.475 0.699 19 163.500
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:13.486 0.710 17 163.476
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:13.496 0.720 18 163.453
10 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:13.521 0.745 20 163.398
11 George Russell Mercedes 1:13.590 0.814 18 163.245
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:13.624 0.848 13 163.169
13 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:13.650 0.874 16 163.112
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:13.697 0.921 18 163.007
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:13.738 0.962 21 162.917
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:13.772 0.996 20 162.842
17 Logan Sargent Williams 1:13.851 1.075 19 162.668
18 Alexander Alban Williams 1:13.930 1.154 23 162.494
19 Oscar Piastre McLaren 1:13.998 1.222 18 162.344
20 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:14.187 1.411 24 161.931