San Francisco Frontiers - Piastri surprised by Ferrari pace as Leclerc tops Monaco practice

The Australian, who wound up second fastest, said he had experienced a "very messy day" in his McLaren, including sliding into the barriers in FP2, but added that he felt he had the pace to compete "when we get everything together".

"Ferrari are clearly looking a lot stronger than they have done," said Piastri.

"But for myself it has been a very messy day. I will try and reset for tomorrow because I think the pace is there in the car."

Leclerc, who won last year's race to become the first home winner in Monaco in the modern era of the championship, made light of his own downbeat forecasts to deliver a convincing 'double top' in the two sessions

With team-mate seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton third quickest and only one-tenth of a second down, it was an uplifting day for Ferrari following a disappointing start to the season.

Leclerc clocked a best lap in one minute and 11.355 seconds to beat Piastri by 0.038s, a margin that suggests the champion team are likely to shine again on Saturday.

Lando Norris in the second McLaren was fourth, ahead of RB rookies Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar, who endured two heavy brushes with the barriers in a final session interrupted by two red flag stoppages.

"It was a tricky day," said Piastri, who damaged his car's front wing after sliding into the barriers at Ste Devote. "The whole day was up and down.

"When we get everything together the pace is quite good. It's just not proving that easy to do at the moment so there’s some things to look at."

Team-mate Norris, who lies 13 points behind Piastri in the title race, said he found it difficult to get some clean laps at times.

"I felt comfortable from the beginning, but I need to progress more in some areas," he said.

"It’s just difficult to get the braking right, to get cornering right, to get tyres, the grip, the feeling, all in the perfect window."

- 'Wake up, it's Monaco!' -

His struggles for perfection and trouble with 'traffic', a notorious problem on the tight, sinuous streets of the Mediterranean principality, were echoed by most drivers including four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

"FP1 was quite positive," he said.

"But we made some changes for FP2, to see how far we could push the balance and I think we overdid it a little bit.

"I couldn't attack the corners the way I would like to. I don't expect us to be the fastest, but we want to be a bit closer than we were in FP2.

"I'm quite confident that we can be a lot closer. The Ferraris look very fast and I think they took a big step forward."

He complained too about the dangers of rookie drivers driving cautiously in the traffic.

"Monaco is always tricky with traffic, but two times today I think it was quite dangerous," he said.

"One time in FP1 and one time in FP2. That’s not ideal. I know it's just practice, but luckily everything went well."

At one point during opening practice Alpine's Pierre Gasly complained of drivers who were dawdling as they learned their way and built-up confidence.

"Wake up! it’s Monaco," the Frenchman said.

U.Campbell--SFF