Lewis Hamilton put Ferrari on top of Friday practice at the Monaco Grand Prix, edging Charles Leclerc by one tenth in the faster second session as the team locked out first and second place in both runs. It was the kind of start that changes the tone of a weekend, especially at Monaco, where a small edge can decide everything on Saturday.
Hamilton's best lap left him ahead of Leclerc and Max Verstappen, with Ferrari finishing first and second fastest across both Friday sessions. Mercedes were 0.3 seconds back and McLaren trailed by a full second, a gap that gave Ferrari the sort of early control they have been chasing since their last Grand Prix win in October 2024. Ferrari are now searching for their first pole position of the 2026 season, and at a circuit where track position matters more than almost anywhere else, Friday speed carries real weight.
Leclerc, though, did not leave the day satisfied. He said he was dealing with brake problems on his SF-26 throughout the session and ran off track twice in the opening hour, including on his first lap out of the pits at Mirabeau. The Monegasque said the confidence was not at the highest level and that qualifying would be very tight, even while insisting Ferrari were not far from Hamilton in the quicker second hour of running. His warning matters because Ferrari can look dominant on the timesheets and still find themselves under pressure when the walls close in on Saturday.
That is what makes the final hours before qualifying so important. Ferrari were tipped as favourites before the weekend began, but they will need to turn Friday pace into a clean lap when final practice begins at 11.30am on Saturday, with qualifying following at 3pm after build-up from 2.15pm. Hamilton said the car felt quite good right from the first laps, and if Ferrari can fix Leclerc's braking issues overnight, they may finally have the chance to convert a strong Friday into a pole that has eluded them all season.
