Margins at the top after FP2 were tight, and with qualifying so decisive to a good result in Monaco it means a different outlook to weekend preparations than usual.
The Friday practice bragging rights ahead of Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix belonged to Max Verstappen, who headed FP2 while FP1 chart-topper Carlos Sainz crashed in the second session.
Collecting a 1m12.462s despite none of his sector times being of sufficient quality to grace the timing boards in purple, Verstappen stitched together a consistent trio of splits to ensure he made the most of his Red Bull RB19 across the whole duration of the lap. This carried him above the Ferraris of Sainz and Charles Leclerc, the former having truncated his session with a clash with the inside wall on the exit of the Swimming Pool sectio …