Leclerc Completes "Double Top" For Ferrari In Monaco Practice

Charles Leclerc completed a convincing 'double top' at his home Monaco Grand Prix on Friday, finishing second practice fastest ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz. The 24-year-old Monegasque driver, who was also quickest in the opening session, clocked a best lap in one minute and 12.656 seconds to outpace the Spaniard by just 0.044 seconds, leaving the two Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and world champion Max Verstappen third and fourth, more than three-tenths adrift. Lando Norris, still battling tonsilitis, was fifth for McLaren ahead of George Russell of Mercedes and Pierre Gasly, an impressive seventh for the Alpha Tauri team on a very warm afternoon in the Mediterranean principality.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso was eighth for Alpine ahead of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin and Yuki Tsunoda in the second Alpha Tauri.

This left a disgruntled Lewis Hamilton down in 12th, behind Kevin Magnussen's Haas, in the second Mercedes, the seven-time champion struggling with continued bouncing as he sought a set-up that would be comfortable and fast.

The session was interrupted once by a red flag when Daniel Ricciardo crashed in the Swimming Pool complex, emerging unscathed from his damaged McLaren.

After topping the times in the opening session, Leclerc was quickly back on the pace in his Ferrari, running on hard tyres, as he sought to become the first Monegasque to score points at home since Louis Chiron finished third in 1950 and regain the lead in this year's drivers' championship.

After his third consecutive win in Spain last Sunday, Dutchman Verstappen leads on 110 points, six ahead of Leclerc.

In a fast-switching contest between them, the Red Bulls and Ferraris were within two-tenths of a