Home boy Charles Leclerc tops the first practice session in Formula 2 at Monaco

In the first practice session in the FIA Formula 2 Championship at Monaco, Ferrari Academy driver Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets ahead of Sergio Canamasas and Oliver Rowland.

The session got underway with overcast but warm conditions, with no one wasting any time to get on circuit with Jordan King was the first driver on track, with all of his rivals following him out within the first minute.

Rowland was the first to set a competitive time within the ten minute mark, with Canamasas, Alexander Albon, Gustav Malja and Norman Nato alternating on top of the timesheets before Leclerc annexed it for himself.

With so little time before qualifying, the entire grid was anxious not to put a wheel wrong at the famously tight and twisty circuit: apart from a small collision between Nabil Jeffri and Sergio Sette Camara, and also an moment where Artem Markelov lost a piece of his car but the session was relatively straight forward.

A late VSC test delayed the field briefly before the track went green again, with Rowland moving back up into the top 3 in the last minute of the session, ahead of Nato, Albon, Luca Ghiotto, Nyck De Vries, Markelov, Nicholas Latifi and Johnny Cecotto, most of whom lost quicker laps to traffic.

This afternoon's session will be split into 2 parts to avoid that traffic, with the odd numbered cars running first and the even numbered cars in the second session: pole will go to the fastest driver overall, with the fastest in the other session given P2 and the rest of the field lining up directly behind them in session order.

Charles Leclerc has lived just off the circuit for his entire life but has never sat in a racing car on it, until today. Leclerc's lap time of 1:19.722 ten minutes before the close, setting a target that his rivals were unable to overturn.

Leclerc finished ahead of Sergio Canamasas in second place, Oliver Rowland in third place and Norman Nato in fourth place.

Alexander Albon finished the session in fifth place ahead of Luca Ghiotto in sixth place, Nick De Vries in seventh place, Artem Markelov in eighth place, Nicholas Latifi in ninth place and Johnny Cecotto in tenth place.

Jordan King finished outside of the top ten in eleventh place ahead of Seal Gelael in twelfth place, Robert Visoiu in thirteenth place, Nobuharu Matsushita in fourteenth place and Gustav Malija in fifteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Antonio Fuoco finished in sixteenth place ahead of Louis Deletraz in seventeenth place, Sergio Sette Camara in eighteenth place, Ralph Boschung in nineteenth place and Nabil Jeffri in twentieth place.

The classification of Practice 1 for the Monaco GP F2 race is as follows:-

1. Charles Leclerc, Prema Racing, 1.19.722
2. Sergio Canamasas, Trident, 0.139s
3. Oliver Rowland, DAMS, 0.146s
4. Norman Nato, Pertamina Arden, 0.336s
5. Alexander Albion, ART Grand Prix, 0.644s
6. Luca Ghiotto, RUSSIAN TIME, 0.793s
7. Nyck de Vyres, Rapax, 0.808s
8. Artem Markelov, RUSSIAN TIME, 0.818s
9. Nicholas Latifi, DAMS, 1.144s
10. Johnny Cecotto Jr, Rapax, 1.222s
11. Jordan King, MP Motorsport, 1.291s
12. Sean Gelael, Pertamina Arden, 1.377s
13. Robert Visoiu, Campos Racing, 1.381s
14. Nobuharo Matsushita, ART Grand Prix, 1.401s
15. Gustav Malja, Racing Engineering, 1.583s
16. Antonio Fuoco, Prema Racing, 2.069s
17. Louis Deletraz, Racing Engineering, 2.265s
18. Sergio Cette Camara, MP Motorsport, 2.342s
19. Ralph Boschung, Campos Racing, 2.389s
20. Nabil Jaffri, Trident, 2.408s

Driving for Pleasure will be covering the Monaco F2 weekend with our practice, qualifying and race reports alongside the latest news.

Picture supplied by the FIA Formula 2 World Championship

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa