Monaco GP FP2 Results: What Happened During Second Practice?

Your Sports Illustrated Guide to FP2 of the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.

The second practice session of the day promises to give us more information from teams as we head into the very special Monaco Grand Prix. 

With Alex Albon still in the pits after a disastrous crash in FP1, It was his teammate Logan Sargeant that started the session for Williams with team principal James Vowles watching on from the pit lane. Mercedes' George Russell also lept out of the box early, eager to test the upgrades to his car that, so far, he hasn't been overly happy with. Fortunately for the Brit, he was quickly able to top the timesheet on medium tyres before being pushed down by Red Bull's Verstappen.

It wasn't long before Red Bull's Max Verstappen hit the top of the timesheet on medium tyres, and although he didn't look overly happy with his setup, his pace looked promising. At the same time, however, Ferrari looked quick with Carlos Sainz showing plenty of promise at the wheel of his SF-23. 

"Damn, the car won't go much quicker," Hamilton said down the radio with him sitting 4-tenths behind Verstappen. This doesn't bode well for the 7-time champion who was hoping for enough performance to at least reach a podium position after a host of upgrades this weekend.

Carlos Sainz caused a red flag with 15 minutes left after clipping the barrier onto the entry of the swimming pool exit with his front suspension and wheel bend backwards from the impact. It's not a lot of damage, so the car will likely be completely fine for tomorrow, but this will shake the Spaniard's confidence. 

Surprisingly, Williams managed to fix Albon's car, and with around 15 minutes to go, was able to return to the track with the other drivers as the red flag lifted.

McLaren's Lando Norris' FP2 came to an end after a power unit issue, but the team's new livery must have given him some confidence with the driver sat fifth on the timesheet ahead of Lewis Hamilton for this session. 

Monaco Grand Prix FP1 Results

1. Max Verstappen
2. Charles Leclerc
3. Carlos Sainz
4. Fernando Alonso
5. Lando Norris
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Sergio Perez
8. Valtteri Bottas
9. Pierre Gasly
10. Esteban Ocon
11. Lance Stroll
12. George Russell
13. Zhou Guanyu
14. Kevin Magnussen