Results First Free Practice 2022 Monaco GP

Event: Monaco F1 Grand Prix
Track: Monaco Circuit

Max Verstappen driving Red Bull Racing RB18 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco on May 27, 2022 (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Weather: dry  30.9°C
Tarmac: dry  53.3°C
Humidity: 30%
Wind: 1.2 m/s W
Pressure: 1015.2 bar

Sergio Pérez was first out on the Monaco track to get a good lap time at the first free practice 2022 Monaco GP results. The weather was great with an almost clear sky and lots of sun. It's the first time that the first day of practice is held on Friday.

The first day always used to be on Thursday until this season. The temperately grandstands around the circuit were already packed. Lewis Hamilton was using a special Monaco helmet to celebrate his favourite race.

After five minutes of practice Daniel Ricciardo topped the leaderboard in the McLaren with a 1:20.364 min. A few seconds later Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was already going for it on medium compound tyres and lapped the Monaco track in 1:17.993. A few minutes later his 2022 F1 Championship rival also was getting up to speed and clocked a 1:16.582 min on the hard tyres.

Ten minutes into this first practice session the other Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz also got in the mix on the mediums and threw in a 1:16.020 min to go fastest. His time got quickly bettered by Leclerc who was flying already under the 1:16's and recorded a 1:15.883 min.

Both Mercedes drivers where complaining on the radio to the team the W13 was bouncing around again. At the same time Verstappen improved again to P2 and only was 0.050 sec. slower than Leclerc on a compound harder tyre. After 15 minutes Sainz also improved his lap time to P1 being only 0.001s slower than his teammate. That again didn't stand very long when Verstappen shaved off almost 0.4s of Leclerc's and Sainz's lap time to set it to 1:15.327 min.

Twenty minutes into the session Mick Schumacher told his team on the radio he had a gearbox problem with the Haas. Because the Haas was blocking the entry of the pitlane the session was red flagged shortly. At this time Williams driver Nicholas Latifi and Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas only had driven two laps.

Verstappen who still was quickest on the hard tyres already had driven 14 laps now. on P2 was Lelcerc, third was Sainz, 4th, Daniel Ricciardo in the McLaren. Pérez was on P5, AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly P6, Lando Norris on P7 in the McLaren, Lewis Hamilton was on P8 in the Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel on P9 in the Aston Martin and George Russell on P10 with the Mercedes. All cars except both Ferraris were fitted with the hard tyres. With 35 minutes to go the session resumed.

The Mercedes team was using the old front wing, which generates a lot more downforce than the new version. It also seems to be the biggest factor for generating the porpoising effect on the W13.

With 25 minutes to go Norris was topping the timesheet. The McLaren now also was fitted with medium tyres now and clocked a 1:15.056 min on the faster tyres. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo who also was on mediums now, could stay close and was second fastest, being only 0.185s slower. Vettel was fifth fastest in the Aston Martin, but was already trying out the softest red tyres. The German was 0.331s slower than Norris.

Pierre Gasly showed the AlphaTauri with a slightly shorter wheelbase than the other cars can be driven very quickly around the street track as he clocked the second fastest lap time 40 minutes into this FP1 session with a 1:15.083 with the medium tyre. Three minutes later Verstappen tried out the mediums and went quickest ride away and dropped the lap time into the 1:14's with a 1:14.712 min. Perez followed his teammate and ended up on P2 being 0.188 sec. slower on the mediums.

With 10 minutes to go both Ferrari drivers had gone again faster than the Red Bulls. Home driver Leclerc had gone 0.070 sec. quicker than Sainz and now had driven the 3.3 km in 1:14.531 min. A few minutes later Pérez split the two Ferraris when he ended up on P2.

In the end Hamilton told his team he was losing his mind due to the bouncing of his car and he needed elbow pads to protect his arms hitting the cockpit.

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 2022 Monaco GP

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