Leclerc pressed and Sainz answered

grew up watching Formula 1 in the streets of Principality and always dreamed of winning there someday. He was close to 2021, when he achieved pole position, but he was unable to start in the first position in the race due to an accident he suffered in ‘qualy’. And a year later, he returned home to recover. Charles Leclerc has a clear mission this weekend and he doesn’t want to fail. He lost the World Cup leadership a week ago on Barcelona due to a mechanical problem when he was leading the race. And on the first day of Monaco GP, the ‘beginning’ clarified that he wanted to recover Verstappen in front of his people. But to do that, he knew he had to do everything perfectly to beat a very fast Sainz, a Max who seemed a step behind but had to be there fighting for the pole, and the key was to get first place. at the start of a qualifying session this Saturday (4:00 pm) that seemed exciting again.

The perfect script of the film for the locals is to see its pilot succeed in a place that seems cursed to him. Two weeks ago Niki Lauda’s first Ferrari crashed, the legendary 312 B3 from 1974, when she lost the brakes. And for now, his best way to knock on wood is to complete a very good, fast and clean day, with nothing more scary than an exit from the track to Santa Devota, where he has to pray in front of the famous that Monegasque Church and put out some candles so nothing goes wrong this weekend.

In that battle he was again Carlos Sainz. The man from Madrid, who just made a mistake in the race last Sunday in Barcelona and is still not comfortable with ferrari of 2022, I can afford it on a circuit where if you don’t trust your car it’s hard to be fast. But Carlos suffered less oversteer due to the characteristics of this track and he performed very well, without any mistakes, keeping up with Charles. Leclerc he was able to set a time earlier because of a traffic problem. later, Perez reached second place a Carlos affected by traffic, but still ferrari let’s take a look at the many letters he keeps.

The Italians made it clear that they had more than just that Red bull. Carlos set the second fastest time on soft rubber 8 laps and Leclerc set a record in the first sector, but had to be aborted due to traffic.

Key classification, but anything can happen

Between the walls of Principality anything can happen. Warning Ricciardo in loas Libres 2 who had an accident in one of the pool variants. He lost the car, and boom! Hit the wall. Leclerc He knew this, because last year he collided with the guards on his last lap, which gave him pole position because he had set the fastest lap in the previous attempt. Maybe something similar will happen this Saturday, or maybe the traffic that all drivers will see on the track is important. What is clear is that the emotion will be so overwhelming at the wheel of some cars that drivers have suffered so much to keep track.

In the first two sessions, many drivers were found to overbrake their single-seater, too bulky for the streets of Monaco. This means there is no overtaking on Sunday and this Saturday’s classification and the race strategy on Sunday will be the main key. In theory everyone knows, ‘qualy’ this Saturday delivers higher prizes to other races. Everything is at stake. Leclerc and Sainz are starting out as big favorites. Charles was more because he was superior in the beginning, more comfortable in the car than the Spaniard. But anything can happen.

Alonzo, 8th

The positive surprise of the second Free Practice session of the Monaco GP was Fernando Alonso with his Alpine. The Asturian driver was eighth, improving to 13th position where he started the weekend in FP1 and better than an Ocon who struggled to find a good time (18th in FP2). Alonso will once again have another difficult task ahead of him to try to get into Q3 on a track that looks unfavorable to his car in the very tight middle section.