Lewis Hamilton fastest in Monaco Grand Prix FP2 as Lando Norris suffers McLaren car failure

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Lewis Hamilton topped the timings during FP2 at the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen as Lando Norris found himself out of the session after a power failure.

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in Friday afternoon’s FP1 session, finishing ahead of Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton, while Max Verstappen split the two Mercedes drivers.

After crashing in the opening practice session, Red Bull mechanics worked frantically to repair Isack Hadjar’s car ahead of FP2. At one stage, the Frenchman appeared at risk of missing the session, but just 10 minutes after the green light, he was back behind the wheel and out on track.

Leclerc set the early benchmark in FP2 before being overtaken by Hamilton and Verstappen. Hamilton then moved to the top of the timesheets, holding an advantage of almost three-tenths of a second over his rivals.

Track conditions proved challenging during the opening stages of the session, with several drivers struggling for grip. George Russell endured a major slide through the Swimming Pool Chicane but managed to gather up his Mercedes before making contact with the barriers.

McLaren’s session took a dramatic turn after just 15 minutes when Lando Norris came to a halt on the exit of the tunnel. The reigning world champion was able to pull into the escape road at the Nouvelle Chicane, limiting the interruption to a virtual safety car.

Norris appeared to lose power as he accelerated out of the tunnel, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown suggesting the issue could be related to the car’s battery system.

Television footage later showed marshals wearing rubber gloves while recovering the stricken McLaren, indicating the car may have been carrying a live electrical fault.

McLaren endured a difficult start to the weekend, with Norris finishing only sixth in the earlier session while Oscar Piastri could manage no better than eighth. Despite Norris’ early exit from FP2, Piastri was unable to capitalise, continuing to struggle for pace in the MCL40 and sitting ninth on the timesheets midway through the session.

The Virtual Safety Car prompted the majority of the field to make pit stops before switching to their usual soft-tyre qualifying simulations, which typically take place during the middle phase of FP2.

Nico Hulkenberg briefly climbed to fourth on the timesheets after his first flying lap on the soft tyres. The Audi driver produced an impressive 1:14.094, before being demoted to fifth when Kimi Antonelli edged ahead.

At the halfway stage of the session, Verstappen led the way, holding a slender advantage of four hundredths of a second over Russell, with the Ferrari duo close behind in third and fourth, albeit before their soft tyre runs.

Having abandoned his first attempt on the soft tyres, Leclerc made no mistake on his second run, producing a lap good enough to move ahead of Verstappen at the top of the standings.

Hamilton responded moments later, however, with the seven-time world champion edging his Ferrari teammate by a tenth of a second to reclaim top spot.

Several of the drivers had a close run-in with the barriers during FP2, with Franco Colapinto smacking his Alpine into the wall at Sainte Devote. Luckily for the Argentine, he was able to make it back into the pitlane and, after a front wing change, was back out on the track.

Sergio Perez brought out the red flags after suffering a fire on his Cadillac. Television pictures showed smoke pouring from the cockpit as he climbed the hill between Sainte Devote and Massenet.

The Mexican managed to pull off the racing line and stop at Casino Square, but moments later, flames erupted from the front-right corner of the car.

The session was immediately red-flagged while marshals extinguished the blaze. Officials were quick to place chocks behind the stricken Cadillac to prevent it from rolling backwards onto the circuit on Monaco’s steep incline.