27/05/2022
NEWS STORY
Round 7 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship commenced with practice on Friday at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo as teams prepared for Sunday's 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix.
Friday's running consisted of two 60-minute sessions - FP1 and FP2 - around the famed 3.337-kilometer (2.074-mile), 19-turn street circuit.
Mick Schumacher's FP1 was curtailed thanks to an MGU-K issue - the German's total number of laps limited to 12 from an opening stint on the Pirelli P Zero White hard tires. Schumacher's VF-22 was forced to park up at pit-entry causing the session's only red flag stop - the car then remaining in the garage with Schumacher's best effort a 1:18.636 (P19). Kevin Magnussen fared better recording 30 laps. A wake-up run on the hard compound was followed by a baseline stint on the Yellow medium rubber - where he set a fastest lap of 1:15.806 (P14). A short high-fuel run concluded the Dane's opening practice.
The team worked hard between sessions replacing Schumacher's gearbox and MGU-K with no time wasted in getting FP2 started. Schumacher sampled the medium tires to start before switching to softs - where he banked a best lap of 1:14.894 (P17). Magnussen followed a similar run-plan to start with his fastest lap on the softer rubber producing a 1:14.239 (P11). High-fuel runs took both cars to the checkered, Magnussen utilizing his softs with Schumacher running the mediums to wrap the day.
Haas F1 Team ran a total of 107 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 - 62 by Magnussen and 45 by Schumacher.
Kevin Magnussen: "It's tough. Monaco has become an even greater challenge it seems this year with these cars. It's just all the bumps, many bumps which I didn't know were there, you feel them now. On many of the entries to corners, the car is so twitchy, so if you hit a bump in the wrong way you lose the rear. It's very intense and it's still great. It's very tough out there, it's a small track - we already know that - and it's the same thing every year but you've got to really try hard not to get in people's way because it's very difficult."
Mick Schumacher: "We had a few issues, especially this morning, so I didn't get to run for most of FP1 unfortunately, so still catching up. Nonetheless we got a good amount of running in during FP2 so it's now a matter of finding out what we need from the car to go quicker. It's definitely different compared to last year, it's a lot bouncier, and the bumps are not filtered so you feel it straight away in your body which has an effect, not only on the car but in terms of driving. The approach will be different, and the overall feel is a bit different compared to last year."
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: "A solid day for the most part - with the exception of Mick's MGU-K issue in FP1, unfortunately that cost some valuable early laps. The team worked hard between sessions to get him ready and out again in FP2 and he enjoyed a trouble-free second session. The positives are we've got a decent number of laps in, and Kevin, in finishing P11 in FP2, has shown there's pace there in the VF-22. Hopefully we can unlock more from both cars tomorrow. It's critical to get everything set-up for qualifying so we've got to maximize final practice and give ourselves a shot later in the day."
Check out our Friday gallery from Monaco, here.