Latifi controls Monaco Free Practice

Nicholas Latifi
Nicholas Latifi

Nicholas Latifi was the coolest out on track in Monaco, as he led the way in this morning’s FIA Formula 2 Free Practice, with a time of 1:21.887. Title rivals Nyck De Vries and Luca Ghiotto came closest to the Canadian driver, but the ART and UNI-Virtuosi men had to settle for second and third.

DAMS duo Latifi and Sergio Sette Camara were amongst the first out onto the streets of Monte-Carlo and it was the Brazilian who set the early pace, with 1:27.446. Not to be outshone by his teammate, Latifi quickly lapped quicker and set 1:24.648.

The duo continued to improve upon each other’s times as they fought for the top spot. Meanwhile, De Vries was still getting to grips with the circuit as he misjudged the chicane at the exit of the tunnel and cut through the middle of it.

The VSC was deployed when the Carlin of Nobuharu Matsushita stopped on track at Turn 6, ending his session early. By then, De Vries had finished warming up and snapped into action, pinching second from Sette Camara and setting his eye on the top spot.

With one Carlin out of the running, the other upped its game when practice resumed and Louis Deletraz set a new fastest lap, but it wouldn’t last long, as Latifi drew further pace from his DAMS machine and reclaimed fastest once more.

With the order seemingly restored at the top, the bulk of the drivers ducked into the pits to switch to the supersofts, in preparation for this afternoon’s qualifying. On the quicker compounds, De Vries had a go at stealing fastest, but the Dutchman was quickly usurped by the unassailable Latifi, who dipped under 1m22s.

It would remain the same until the checkered flag, with Latifi and De Vries followed by Ghiotto, Sette Camara and Jack Aitken. Callum Ilott, Dorian Boccolacci, Deletraz, Sean Gelael and Anthoine Hubert completed the top 10.

The cars will hit the narrow streets of Monte Carlo once again at 1.20pm local time. Odd numbered drivers will go first in Group A, while even numbers will follow at 1.44pm.

Monaco Free Practice classification

POS

DRIVER

TEAM

LAPTIME

LAPS

1

Nicholas Latifi

DAMS

1:21.887

25

2

Nyck De Vries

ART Grand Prix

1:22.001

24

3

Luca Ghiotto

UNI-Virtuosi Racing

1:22.327

24

4

Sergio Sette Camara

DAMS

1:22.470

26

5

Jack Aitken

Campos Racing

1:22.569

24

6

Callum Ilott

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:22.838

26

7

Dorian Boccolacci

Campos Racing

1:22.872

23

8

Louis Deletraz

Carlin

1:22.980

26

9

Sean Gelael

PREMA Racing

1:23.135

26

10

Anthoine Hubert

BWT Arden

1:23.167

25

11

Ralph Boschung

Trident

1:23.530

25

12

Juan Manuel Correa

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:23.834

24

13

Mick Schumacher

PREMA Racing

1:23.854

28

14

Giuliano Alesi

Trident

1:24.199

27

15

Nikita Mazepin

ART Grand Prix

1:24.315

25

16

Guanyu Zhou

UNI-Virtuosi Racing

1:24.640

26

17

Artem Markelov

MP Motorsport

1:24.821

22

18

Nobuharu Matsushita

Carlin

1:25.023

9

19

Tatiana Calderon

BWT Arden

1:26.050

24

20

Mahaveer Raghunathan

MP Motorsport

1:26.784

25