24/05/2025 10:45
If you've read or listened to anything Charles Leclerc has said
regarding Ferrari's chances into the Monaco Grand Prix, you'd be
extremely surprised to see him comfortably complete the Friday
practice double. He has been telling the world that Ferrari's
low-speed performance problems would all but rule the team out of
contention, but on Friday in the Principality, the SF-25 looked the
car to beat, with Leclerc first and Lewis Hamilton in third. It is
the first time all season that Ferrari has had two cars inside the
top three in a session and bodes well going into perhaps the most
important qualifying session of the year. Ferrari's typical
strength in 2025 has been race pace, as seen by Hamilton's charge
to fourth at Imola, and Leclerc's strong drive to third in Saudi
Arabia, where his clean air pace caught the attention of McLaren
and Red Bull. Its problems lie in qualifying, where it is having to
trade single lap pace for an increased ride height to prevent the
type of plank wear which led to Hamilton's China result being
expunged. The data appears to back this up with only a mighty
effort from Leclerc getting him ahead. The article continues below.
As can be seen below in the track dominance of the FP2 qualifying
simulations, Leclerc was monstrous through Sainte Devote and on the
climb up Beau Rivage to Massanet and Casino Square. Here, he was
0.080s faster than second-placed Oscar Piastri, and two-and-a-half
faster than Max Verstappen, who was actually quickest through
Massanet, but Leclerc's extraordinary speed through Sainte Devote
is key. He carried more speed into the corner than Piastri, broke
later and got on the throttle earlier, with the McLaren about
level-pegging with the Red Bull. Further around the lap, Leclerc's
warnings about Ferrafri being slow in the low-speed rings true as
Piastri dominated at the Lowes hairpin and the Nouvelle chicane.
But through the flick of Tabac and dance of Anthony Noghes, that
Ferrari was on top. It was enough to pip Piastri by 0.038s to top
the session. The Article continues below. Race pace data As for
race pace analysis, Leclerc looks to have a decisive advantage over
the chasing pack. His long run was completed on the hard tyres,
the C4, which is actually last season's medium tyre, with the C5
medium this term being last year's soft, following the introduction
of the new C6. His average pace was 1:14.161s and was largely
consistent through the run, although it was the more durable tyre.
Hamilton's medium run yielded a 1:14.807 average, with Verstappen
even further behind on a 1:14.914 as he battled understeer in the
RB21. With the two-stop race mandated, for the first time in a
while, strategy will actually be key in Monaco, but as ever, race
pace is not the important factor. It is all about qualifying, but
Leclerc appears to have the barest of margins in his favour.
