Hamilton eager to find "more performance" despite his blistering pace on the opening day in Monaco

Lewis Hamilton ended Friday practice for the Monaco Grand Prix as the fastest driver of the day, heading a Ferrari one‑two in FP2 after Charles Leclerc had topped the opening session.

It was a quietly authoritative performance from the seven‑time world champion, who looked comfortable from his first laps and praised the team’s execution as Ferrari completed its full programme without issues.

“It’s been a positive day overall and the car felt quite good right from the first laps. The team did a solid job with the changes we made between the two sessions and we were able to work through our programme without any major issues.”

Ferrari’s approach was clear: maximise track time, adapt to the evolving surface, and refine balance rather than chase headline times. Hamilton echoed that philosophy, noting the unique demands of Monte Carlo.

“Monaco is always a very different challenge, with the bumps and the close proximity of the barriers, so it’s not easy to find the right balance and put everything together.”

Hamilton began the day on the Hard compound, building rhythm as the track evolved rapidly. After the red flag triggered by Isack Hadjar’s crash, Ferrari switched both cars to the Mediums, where Hamilton set a 1:14.204, placing him second behind Leclerc’s 1:13.978.

The session was clean, controlled, and efficient — exactly what Ferrari needed on a circuit where confidence is currency.

In the afternoon, Hamilton looked increasingly at ease. After initial running on the Mediums, Ferrari switched to the Softs, and Hamilton delivered the fastest lap of the day: 1:13.026, edging Leclerc by 0.111s.

The session ended with a red flag caused by Sergio Pérez’s brake fire, but Hamilton and Leclerc still completed practice starts and closed the day with 36 laps each, bringing Ferrari’s total to 131 laps.

Hamilton emphasised that despite the strong times, the work was far from finished.

“There is still performance to be found and tonight we’ll focus on the details, because the margins are very small here and there’s plenty of work to do ahead of qualifying.”