Leclerc plays down his chances despite strong opening day at Monte Carlo

Despite his benchmark times on Friday, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc tried to play down his chances, claiming that things can change very quickly in Monaco from one day to another.

On the back of their home race at Imola, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in both free practice sessions at his own home round. The second session saw the fastest times and in this one, Lewis Hamilton was third just over a tenth off his team-mate’s time.

Despite setting the benchmark on Friday, there was one scary moment for Lecerc, at the start of the first session when he was unable to avoid running into Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin, who had suddenly moved across in front of the Monegasque at the hairpin. The Monegasque's SF-25 sustained a broken front wing, but he was able to continue to rack up laps in the opening session.

In the second session, Leclerc set a benchmark of 1m11.355s while his team-mate Hamilton did a 1m11.460s. The final part of the hour saw both drivers run with a heavier fuel load in race trim, using the tyres from the start of the session, the Hards for Leclerc and the mediums for Hamilton.

Reflecting on his day, Leclerc said: "Monaco is always very special, not just to me but to anyone driving on this track. On Fridays, everyone is taking their reference points. It’s still too early to feel very confident for the weekend, but it has been a positive first day on track for us.

"Our one-lap pace was strong and I felt comfortable in the car, no matter which compound we were running on. Qualifying is going to be fundamental around here as usual and we have to be starting in front if we want to bring home a good result."

Despite his benchmark times on Friday, Leclerc tried to play down his chances, claiming that things can change very quickly in Monaco from one day to another.

"Maybe a bit less convinced but yeah, I’m not convinced the other way either. A Friday in Monaco is always very special, very specific, I think everybody is taking a bit their reference. It is too early to feel very positive about the weekend.

"But let’s say the Friday has been very positive for us, I’ve been feeling pretty good with the car. It hasn’t started the way I wanted with the crash with Lance but after that it has been pretty smooth and I’m happy overall with the car."