F1 GP Monaco, Free Practice 2: Thursday at the top for Red Bull, with Ricciardo ahead of Verstappen

Daniel Ricciardo he doesn't let go and is also the man of the records in the afternoon, with a new stratospheric best time, 1:11.841, achieved once again "to the detriment" of his boxing partner Verstappen, coming second at almost two tenths. With the qualifying tyre, the hypersoft, the Australian had no rivals, a sign of how the Red Bull be the single-seater that best adapts to the aerodynamic characteristics required by this circuit. At the end of the day, La rose to third place Ferrari di Hag, half a second behind the top, while Hamilton, Raikkonen, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Vandoorne, Alonso and Sainz complete the top ten. But if Red Bull had no rivals on the flying lap, in the long runs it was once again Ferrari that impressed, with both Ferrari single-seaters appearing in excellent shape in the race pace simulation.

News – Still sunny and hot in Monaco, when the second free practice session starts on the most glamorous street circuit on the calendar. Magnussen, who had only accumulated 7 laps in the morning, goes first on the red tyre. Behind him were a handful of riders, including teammate Grosjean, who stopped the clock at 1:16.164 after just three minutes from the start, on the ultrasoft tyre. Then Leclerc and Vettel follow one another at the top: with the ultrasoft the German clocks 1:13.250. The Red Bulls also leave the pits and Verstappen immediately takes the top of the standings, thanks to the new record time of 1:12.071, achieved on the hypersoft tyre.

Twenty-five minutes from the start, however, the first red flag waves in Monaco: the drivers have to return to the pits, while they try to understand who or what is responsible for the stop: it turns out to be a manhole, which will then be welded allowing the drivers to restart about halfway through the session. Meanwhile, Verstappen is in the lead followed by Vettel at over a second, then Ricciardo, Bottas, Hartley, Gasly, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Alonso and Hulkenberg. Bottas and Alonso are the only ones with the ultrasoft, Hamilton alone with the supersoft.

At the restart, Ricciardo moved into second place, 4 tenths behind his teammate, but then Vettel came under him again and snatched the place from him. Verstappen does not calm down, and sets a new record: 1:12.035. The top five protagonists – Verstappen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Hamilton and Raikkonen – are within just half a second. All with hypersoft rubber. Behind them, with thirty minutes left until the end, there are Bottas, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Alonso and Hartley.

Vandoorne took eighth place, while the Ferraris and Verstappen switched to simulating race pace. Ricciardo instead wants to try once again to improve his flying lap, and finally manages to crumble his boxing partner's record, setting a new one: 1:11.841.
In the final minutes the drivers dedicated themselves to long runs, with Hamilton the only one to lap - in vain in his opinion - with the supersoft compound, while the two Red Bulls completed the simulation with only the hypersoft.

F1 GP Monaco – Times, results and laps Free Practice 2
1 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m11.841s – 33
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m12.035s 0.194s 41
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m12.413s 0.572s 42
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m12.536s 0.695s 34
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m12.543s 0.702s 36
6 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m12.642s 0.801s 38
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m13.047s 1.206s 30
8 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Renault 1m13.077s 1.236s 40
9 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Renault 1m13.115s 1.274s 42
10 Carlos Sainz Renault 1m13.200s 1.359s 34
11 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso/Honda 1m13.222s 1.381s 47
12 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m13.370s 1.529s 39
13 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m13.382s 1.541s 47
14 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 1m13.410s 1.569s 32
15 Sergey Sirotkin Williams/Mercedes 1m13.547s 1.706s 44
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m13.572s 1.731s 41
17 Charles Leclerc Sauber/Ferrari 1m13.575s 1.734s 45
18 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m13.763s 1.922s 37
19 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m14.011s 2.170s 34
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m14.173s 2.332s 46