First Free Practice Results 2023 Monaco F1 GP

F1 Results First Free Practice 2023 Monaco GP (FP1)
26 May 2023 by    3 min read
 1

Event: Monaco F1 Grand Prix
Track: Monaco Circuit

First Free Practice Results 2023 Monaco F1 GP

The Mercedes W14B sidepod up close

Weather: dry  26°C
Tarmac: dry  47°C
Humidity: 39%
Wind: 1 km/h SE
Pressure: 1019 bar

Sergio Perez, last year's Monaco Grand Prix champion, was the first to navigate the resurfaced street circuit in this year's inaugural free practice session. His Red Bull contract renewal might owe something to his win here last year, and despite experiencing a minor form slump post-victory, Perez has since returned to his stellar performance​.

Lando Norris of McLaren was quick to make his mark after drivers completed their first laps. Clocking a lap time of 1:18.618, Norris topped the leaderboard, outpacing Aston Martin and Mercedes' best efforts. Interestingly, Norris was on medium compound tyres, which could account for his impressive pace. Meanwhile, the majority of the other drivers opted for the hard tyre compound, with a few exceptions also choosing mediums​.

Lewis Hamilton's first laps in the newly redesigned Mercedes W14 showed great promise. A noteworthy 1:16.196 lap time showcased the potential of the car's new sidepod design. Mercedes hopes the car's fresh upgrades will help close the gap to the front-running Red Bulls in the season's remainder​1​.

Fifteen minutes into the session, the top three drivers were Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, and Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Sainz, both running on medium tyres, clocked 1:14.562 and +0.636s respectively. Aston Martin's Alonso was the quickest driver on the hard tyres.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen made a strategic pit stop halfway through the session, tweaking his setup over concerns about crashing with the current configuration. Hamilton, meanwhile, switched to Medium tyres on his W14, catapulting him from P13 to P1 with a 1:14.245 lap time.

The top 10 at the halfway mark were:

  1. Hamilton (1:14.245)
  2. Sainz (+0.210s)
  3. Norris (+0.432s)
  4. Verstappen (+0.454s)
  5. Leclerc (+0.497s)
  6. Alonso (+0.623s)
  7. Alexander Albon (+0.696s)
  8. Perez (+0.774s)
  9. Yuki Tsunoda (+0.929s)
  10. Oscar Piastri (+1.489s).

A red flag disrupted the session with 22 minutes remaining when a Haas driver collided with the barrier at the chicane exit from the tunnel, damaging his left rear rim. However, the session resumed promptly.

In the final 15 minutes, all drivers switched to the medium compound tyres. Alonso set the fastest time around the Monaco street circuit, posting a 1:13.907 benchmark time. A few minutes later Sainz beat his countryman's time with 0.3s ans set it to 1:13.372.

However, the session ended abruptly four minutes before its scheduled conclusion. Williams driver Alex Albon, who held P10, crashed into the barrier at turn 1, resulting in a second red flag and a premature end to the practice.

Last year the quickest lap time of FP1 was a 1:12,487 min, driven by Sergio Pérez with the Red Bull.

FP1 Times Table 2023 Monaco GP

PNoDriverTeamTime1st GapLapsTyres
155Carlos SainzFerrari1:13,37226????M
214Fernando AlonsoAston Martin1:13,710+0,338s28????M
344Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:14,035+0,663s27????M
411Sergio PérezRed Bull1:14,038+0,666s27????M
516Charles LeclercFerrari1:14,093+0,721s24????M
61Max VerstappenRed Bull1:14,244+0,872s26????M
74Lando NorrisMcLaren1:14,467+1,095s25????M
831Esteban OconAlpine1:14,585+1,213s29????M
918Lance StrollAston Martin1:14,653+1,281s28????M
1023Alex AlbonWilliams1:14,666+1,294s32⚪H
1177Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo1:14,718+1,346s29????M
1220Kevin MagnussenHaas1:14,725+1,353s29????M
1322Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri1:14,820+1,448s29⚪H
1410Pierre GaslyAlpine1:14,866+1,494s30????M
1563George RussellMercedes1:15,066+1,694s24????M
1621Nyck de VriesAlphaTauri1:15,083+1,711s33????M
1781Oscar PiastriMcLaren1:15,192+1,820s32⚪H
182Logan SargeantWilliams1:15,557+2,185s30????M
1924Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo1:15,684+2,312s25????M
2027Nico HülkenbergHaas1:15,785+2,413s17????M

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One F1 fan comment on “First Free Practice Results 2023 Monaco F1 GP”

  1. Jere Jyrälä

    For the first time, Monaco has a helicopter view & some other camera angles are also different from before after FOM’s long-needed world feed coverage takeover.
    I also noticed the screen on the run towards Massenet is missing & trackside advertising is like everywhere else, i.e., specific sections for a particular sponsor.
    As for the session itself, quite silly errors by Hulkenberg & Albon, although red-flagging in the former's case seemed excessive because nothing seemingly dropped on his way to pit lane.

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