Monaco Grand Prix: Practice Recap

TGR Haas F1 Team drivers Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon ran their opening practice laps in FP1 getting a baseline on the Pirelli P Zero White hard tire. The second half of the session saw both VF-26s swap onto the Yellow medium rubber – where both drivers set their fastest laps. Bearman led the way with a 1:16.292 (P16), with teammate Ocon directly behind in the timings on a 1:16.333 (P17).

FP2 later in the day gave the drivers another opportunity to dial in their respective cars around the tight and twisty 3.337-kilometer (2.074-mile), 19-turn street circuit. After opening stints on the medium tire, Bearman and Ocon ran qualifying sims on the Red soft rubber. Bearman was again fastest – taking P10 on the timesheet with a fast lap of 1:14.456. Ocon’s best tour was a 1:14.845 to net P17. Both cars ended Friday on high-fuel runs through to the checkered flag.

TGR Haas F1 Team ran a total of 134 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 – 68 by Bearman, with 66 from Ocon.

Ollie Bearman:

“I’m quite happy with the progress we’ve made today in Monaco, as we know how important this weekend is. FP1 was challenging, but in FP2 we made a step forward, and I’m quite happy with the balance that we had. We still have a lot of work to do overnight, but with a bit of finetuning, I think we can move up some places and that’s the target for tomorrow, as we know the most important part of this weekend is qualifying.”

Esteban Ocon:

“Today was practice, but we know it’s tomorrow that matters. Today was about figuring out the limitations of the car, and we have some good data now, so it’s up to us to improve the car. Tomorrow morning is when we’ll start getting closer to the wall, pushing harder, and finding out where we are.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“Monaco is really a driver track, so we needed two clean sessions and to start from a decent baseline. FP1 was actually quite tricky because of the track conditions, tire conditions, and so on – which is nothing new for Monaco, but it was a more difficult session, however operationally it was good. The team reviewed the data based on driver feedback and improved the car for FP2. Ollie decided after FP2 that he was much happier with the car, which is great, but we had a small issue with Esteban’s steering system. That’s causing him problems, but we think we know what the issue is, so we’ll solve it overnight. Tomorrow, we need to focus on getting the tires in the window for qualifying and execute cleanly – then I don’t think it’s too far away. We have things to improve tonight, but overall, it’s been a decent Friday.”