Free training in Monaco
Mick Schumacher puts his car in the guardrail
Mick Schumacher demolished his rear wheel in Monaco
© Hasan Batic
Ferrari is back! At least after the training day in Monaco. First place for Charles Leclerc, the real Monegasque in the peloton. Things are not going so well for Mick Schumacher. Sebastian Vettel is also struggling. But not necessarily with his car.
Sebastian Vettel could joke about his problems with the eye again, Mick Schumacher took the kiss “with the gang” sportily. “Of course you can say that this is part of Monaco”, said the 22-year-old son of record world champion Michael Schumacher and hopes that it will not happen again in the race on Sunday (3 pm/Sky). Mick Schumacher was in a good mood after the opening day of the Monaco Grand Prix: “Of course it was fun.”
Before that, however, he had caused an early end to training when he had touched the guardrails with his Formula 1 car more than a little bit and had damaged his right rear wheel in particular. Two years ago, he had once driven in Formula 2 on the highly demanding course, which forgives no mistakes. In the first practice session with a Formula 1 car, he came in 18th after an hour on Thursday, this time also beaten by his Russian team-mate Nikita Masepin.
Lost control in the casino passage
In the second session, he lost control of his race car in the casino passage before slamming over the track and hitting it. The rear wheels had blocked, explained Mick Schumacher. He had initially rolled even further, but had to park the car. The training was declared over almost five minutes earlier.
With a surprising fastest of the day: Local hero Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap on the 3.337-kilometer course after a gearbox failure at midday in the first free practice session at the second unit. His Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz Junior confirmed directly behind him that the Scuderia in Monte Carlo is to be expected.
“They are really strong, it is surprising that they have improved so much. But it’s also great,” said record world champion Lewis Hamilton, who finished third in the Mercedes in the faster afternoon session. His challenger Max Verstappen finished fourth in the Red Bull.
Hamilton and Verstappen are separated by only seven thousandths
Only a measly seven thousandths of a second separated the seven-time world champion and World Championship leader as well as the World Championship runner-up, who are 14 points apart in the classification. In between, both were even equal to the third decimal place. “I was hoping we would be faster,” Verstappen said.
Saturday’s fight for the pole after the traditional rest day in the principality could become the nerve highlight of the weekend. Whoever gets it also has the best chances of victory. In the past eleven races, the pilot from grid position one won eight times.
Vettel also succeeded (2011). This time he does not need to think about a victory. He lined up in tenth position in the second practice session, Vettel had made it to eighth position before. After all, a slight upward trend.
The 33-year-old native of Heppenheim also had less to do with his Aston Martin in the afternoon than with a completely different problem. Feeling as if his eye was bleeding, the four-time world champion excitedly radioed to the pits during practice rounds. In the end, however, it had only soaked. “Something caught my eye on the first laps, “explained Vettel:” It wasn’t ideal.”Nevertheless, he kept his humour and also briefly opened the eye patch made for him by the team amused.
