Leclerc fastest despite clash with Stroll in eventful Monaco first practice

Home hero Charles Leclerc topped an eventful first practice for the Monaco Grand Prix despite clashing with Lance Stroll.

Leclerc beat Max Verstappen by 0.163s in a session which saw several drivers getting caught out by traffic around the tight confines of Monaco, including Lewis Hamilton who went airborne to avoid the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli at the high-speed Swimming Pool chicane.

Earlier on, Leclerc ran into the back of Stroll on the approach to the famous Turn 6 hairpin as the Aston Martin driver moved onto the racing line when Leclerc was on a flying lap.

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The incident caused a brief red flag after 10 minutes due to debris and Ferrari fixed Leclerc's front corner quickly before the Monegasque driver delighted the home crowd by going fastest. Stroll missed the remainder of the session due to damage on his gearbox.

Encouragingly for Ferrari, on a track they were not expected to be competitive at, Leclerc set his lap much earlier than Verstappen so could have gone even quicker.

McLaren's Lando Norris was third and three tenths behind Leclerc, with Williams' Alex Albon in fourth. Oscar Piastri, who leads Norris by 13 points in the standings, was in fifth and George Russell in sixth.

Hamilton finished the session in ninth but will be relieved to have escaped damage after multiple incidents with traffic and showed strong pace earlier on.

More to follow...

Sky Sports F1's Monaco GP schedule

Friday May 23
2.05pm: F2 Qualifying
3pm: F1 Team Bosses' Press Conference
3.45pm: Monaco GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 Show

Saturday May 24
9.40am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Monaco GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.10pm: Monaco GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: MONACO GP QUALIFYING
5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook

Sunday May 25
6.55am: F3 Feature Race
8.35am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Monaco GP build-up*
2pm: The MONACO GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Monaco GP reaction
5pm: Ted's Notebook
5.30pm: The Indy 500

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Next up in F1's European triple-header is the 'Jewel in the Crown', the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, with coverage starting on Friday live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime