Hamilton ‘surprised’ by Ferrari’s “really strong” Monaco F1 practice pace

Charles Leclerc led a surprise 1-2 for the Italian marquee in second practice, with only a tenth separating him and teammate Carlos Sainz.

Lewis Hamilton ended the day in third, nearly 0.4s off Leclerc’s impressive 1m11.684s benchmark.

When asked about Ferrari’s impressive turn of pace, Hamilton said: “Great day, weather’s been great, just feels really cool to be back on track. It’s rapid this track, absolutely mesmerising every time you get the opportunity to drive. It’s a challenge, the Ferraris are really strong, surprising to see them improve so much but that’s great, it means more competition.”

Hamilton was then asked if he felt Ferrari’s pace was genuine, and he replied: “I’m seeing what you’re seeing and I’m generally just focused on my job but it looks like it.”

Valtteri Bottas trailed his teammate in both practice sessions in the principality, ending the second session fifth-fastest overall.

The Finn believes Mercedes has work to do in getting its tyres up to temperature in preparation for the first flying lap after struggling for tyre warm-up.

“I feel that, from my side, I’m lacking from the front end in the car on this track. We’ve had similar issues, a little bit, in some tracks, mid-corner, and this is mainly medium and slow speed corners and if you don’t have the feeling on the front, if it’s going to turn in or not, you can easily lose quite a bit of time.

“Also, it feels like our car is a bit stiff, like all the bumps and the cambers on the corners, it’s quite upsetting, so it’s something we’ll have a look into. It will be important. Today, for the first lap, I couldn’t get them to work yet, so we need to work hard tomorrow and try to figure it out. I feel like some cars might have a bit of an advantage to us, on that.”