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Revived Hamilton leads Ferrari one-two in Monaco practice / Photo: © AFP
Revived Hamilton leads Ferrari one-two in Monaco practice
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton rolled back the years on Friday when he outpaced Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc to clock the fastest time in second practice for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
The 41-year-old Briton, a three-time winner at the unforgiving Mediterranean street circuit and chasing his third pole at the event, clocked a best lap in one minute and 13.026 seconds to beat the local hero by 0.111 seconds.
After his strong second-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix, this was proof that Hamilton has rediscovered his mojo and will seek a record-enhancing 105th pole position and 106th win this weekend.
He won in Monaco in 2008, 2016 and 2019 and is one of six former winners in the field.
Four-time champion Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, 0.168 adrift, ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and championship-leading Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, three-tenths and five-tenths off the pace.
Hamilton will also seek an eighth Monaco podium on Sunday to draw level with Ayrton Senna’s record of eight.
Isack Hadjar recovered from a crash during opening practice to finish sixth in the second Red Bull ahead of Oscar Piastri of McLaren, whose team-mate world champion Lando Norris suffered battery failure and wound up down in 19th place.
The two Audis of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto were eighth and ninth ahead Olver Bearman of Haas while it was another dismal day for Aston Martin with two-time champion Fernando Alonso 20th and Lance Stroll 22nd.
The session began with Hadjar's car still up on axle stands, as Russell led the way, under a blue sky with a mild 22 degrees Celsius. Verstappen set an early time before the Ferraris took over with Leclerc in front by a whisker ahead of Hamilton until Verstappen took over.
Everyone, bar the Aston Martins on softs, ran on mediums as the track ramped up, providing more grip and faster lap times as Hamilton proved by going top in 1:13.729, 0.279 clear of Verstappen.
Hadjar joined the fray after 14 minutes. "Thank you, guys," he said as he pulled out shortly before a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed briefly when Norris pulled up at the Nouvelle Chicane with a battery-related electrical failure.
On resumption, Leclerc regained control, edging Hamilton by 0.058 seconds in 1:13.613 before Verstappen took softs and clocked 1:13.467. Both Mercedes men also took softs, too, but were unable to catch the trop trio until Russell rose to second.
Ferrari finally took to softs with 26 minutes to go, Leclerc soon clocking 1:13.137 to take command by 0.057 before Hamilton, clearly in the mood, trimmed that in 1:13.026.
In the final minutes, Sergio Perez came to a halt in Casino Square in his Cadillac, the American marque racing in Europe for the first time, with smoke filling his cockpit from the front-right brake ducts.
S.Hall--SFF
