Monaco – Free Practice 2: Ricciardo surprises the Mercedes

The second free practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix kicks off under a slightly clearer sky than this morning, although rain remains a threat for the rest of the weekend. The air temperature is 19 degrees, and the track has warmed up to 34 degrees.

After the sewer cover incident during the first practice session, the track marshals took the necessary steps to fix the problem as the first GP2 practice session took place just before, running smoothly.

Many drivers are taking to the track, including Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez, who immediately put on Ultra Soft tires with purple stripes on their Haas. They immediately climb to the top two positions, with most of the other drivers on Super Soft tires.

**After 5 minutes of the session**, the virtual safety car is deployed to clean the track at the tunnel exit: Romain Grosjean lost a piece of his front wing by brushing against the inner rail after losing control of his car on the notorious bump in the trajectory. With a broken right front suspension, the French driver returns to the pits.

The session quickly resumes its course and Lewis Hamilton puts his Mercedes at the top with a time of 1:15.489, ahead of a surprising Carlos Sainz who inserts himself between the two Silver Arrows. Meanwhile, neither Felipe Massa nor Jolyon Palmer have taken to the track yet. A difficult problem to solve on the Briton’s Renault following his incident this morning.

Jo isn’t lapping at all currently. We like a lot less. #FP2 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/9YKbsBNBIP

— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) May 26

After about twenty minutes of the session, the virtual safety car reappears following a violent off-track incident involving Rio Haryanto’s Manor. The Indonesian extracts himself from his car without issue, but it is destroyed and he must leave it to the marshals. Like Grosjean, Haryanto was caught out by the bump at the tunnel exit and hit the outer barrier, with less luck than the Frenchman.

YELLOW FLAG: Haryanto tells @ManorRacing team he’s OK after crashing into barriers out of the tunnel #MonacoGP #FP2 pic.twitter.com/ctbhWY6Xc5

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 26

The stopwatch resets on the best time just set by Daniel Ricciardo at 1:15.015, with Ultra Soft tires, half a second ahead of his teammate Verstappen, who holds the third provisional time. Daniil Kvyat, still very upset after his ousting from Red Bull, complains of being hindered by Felipe Massa, while Kimi Räikkönen has a minor off-track excursion at the Sainte Dévote turn, though without serious consequence.

Most drivers have now completed at least one run on Ultra Soft tires. The Ferraris don’t seem very comfortable with this compound as Sebastian Vettel is only 14th, more than two seconds off the best time, and Kimi Räikkönen is in 7th place. The fuel loads are not known, of course, but this result is enough to worry the Reds for the moment. To make matters worse, Vettel spins at Mirabeau, hitting the wall with the rear of his car. He can continue but must go through his pit.

VETTEL: “OK, I crashed – damaged the rear wing…I’m coming back, get a spare ready” 🔧 #FP2 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/1eia5eUfz0

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 26

In the last half hour, the drivers seem to have been doing long runs with a significant fuel load and Ultra Soft tires. The goal is to find out how far these tire compounds can go since it’s very likely that the top 10 qualifiers will start with this choice.

The Top 10 includes: Ricciardo, Hamilton, Rosberg, Verstappen, Kvyat, Sainz, Räikkönen, Perez, Button, and Hülkenberg. Among the notable absentees, the two Williams are struggling on this circuit, unsurprisingly, just like Vettel driving his Ferrari. It is noteworthy that Palmer was finally able to hit the track this afternoon.

Kevin Magnussen joins the ranks of cars stranded in the rails. The Dane sends his Renault into the Tecpro barriers at the last corner, ending his session after being on the limit for a few laps in the Rascasse corner, where he locked his wheels multiple times.

The Vettel festival continues! The German goes too wide at the first corner and hits the barrier with his left rear wheel. He can continue, but these small touches and repeated inaccuracies well reflect the difficulties of the world champion this afternoon. Despite everything, he manages to climb back into the Top 10 by securing 9th place.

In the last quarter of an hour, the times will no longer change, and the session ends with the best time from Ricciardo’s Red Bull, confirming the good form of his team after their victory in Spain with Max Verstappen.

Le classement des FP2:

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION: END OF #FP2 #MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ReAZE8NPOO

— Formula 1 (@F1) 26 mai /f1/actualite/21021-monaco-essais-libres-1-hamilton-pour-commencer-frayeur-pour-button.html

From our special correspondent in Monaco