Ferrari vs Verstappen

Hamilton leads FP2 as Ferrari and Verstappen trade blows

Lewis Hamilton topped the second free practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, but the story of FP2 was the emerging three‑way fight between Ferrari, Mercedes and Max Verstappen. The session swung constantly between Hamilton, Leclerc and Verstappen, each taking turns at the top as the track evolved.

Hamilton ultimately finished fastest, with Leclerc just behind in P2. George Russell finally placed himself ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who struggled with battery management issues throughout the session. The young Italian repeatedly complained about a lack of deployment and inconsistent power delivery, costing him valuable time.

Verstappen, meanwhile, looked far more competitive than in recent Fridays. The Dutchman regularly posted purple sectors and briefly held the fastest time multiple times. He remains the clear outlier capable of breaking Ferrari’s early‑weekend dominance and he showed it again in FP2, staying close to Leclerc and ahead of both Mercedes cars.

McLaren had a difficult afternoon. Lando Norris was forced to park his car halfway through the session when his power unit suddenly shut down, his steering wheel went black, and the car rolled to a stop. The incident triggered a brief Virtual Safety Car. Oscar Piastri lacked pace as well, leaving McLaren on the back foot heading into Saturday.

Isack Hadjar returned to the track after his heavy FP1 crash, with his RB22 fully repaired. He completed a solid run but still ended nearly nine‑tenths behind Verstappen, though notably ahead of both McLarens, a scenario rarely seen in recent seasons. For now, Red Bull appears to have both cars in the mix, with the second RB surprisingly competitive.

The final 12 minutes of FP2 were dominated by long‑run simulations, until another interruption arrived. With four minutes remaining, Sergio Pérez’s Cadillac came to a halt after his brakes overheated, causing a small fire and forcing the marshals to deploy a red flag. The session resumed with two minutes left, but no one improved.

Ferrari remains the favourite after two sessions, but Verstappen is close, very close. And with Mercedes showing signs of life, Monaco is shaping up to be far more unpredictable than expected.