Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the second practice session for the 2026 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, beating Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc by just over a tenth of a second as the Italian squad completed a Friday clean sweep in Monte Carlo.

After Leclerc had topped FP1 ahead of Hamilton, the seven-time world champion reversed the order in the late-afternoon session with a best lap of 1:13.026. Leclerc finished second, 0.111s adrift, while Max Verstappen repeated his FP1 result by taking third place, 0.168s off Hamilton’s benchmark.

At the start of the hour-long session, George Russell led the queue out of the pit lane, followed by Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Nico Hülkenberg. The majority of the early runners headed out on Medium compound Pirelli tyres.

Verstappen set the first representative time with a lap of 1:15.993, though his early spell at the top was short-lived. The Ferrari pair soon moved ahead, with Leclerc going quickest on 1:14.240, 0.066s clear of Hamilton.

Verstappen then returned to the top of the order with a 1:14.008, but his advantage again proved brief as Hamilton dipped below the 1m14s mark to post a 1:13.729, putting him 0.279s clear of the Red Bull driver.

After repairs had been completed on his car following his FP1 crash, Isack Hadjar joined the session 12 minutes in, though he was denied the chance to properly establish himself on the timesheet when defending world champion Lando Norris pulled over at the Nouvelle Chicane and stopped his car. The stoppage led to a brief Virtual Safety Car period.

Once running resumed, Leclerc moved to the head of the leaderboard with a lap of 1:13.613, putting him just under six hundredths of a second ahead of Hamilton. The Monegasque driver then returned to the pits after 15 laps on Medium tyres, just as others began to switch to Softs.

Kimi Antonelli’s first lap on the Soft compound was a 1:13.850, good enough initially for third place. That became fourth when Verstappen went fastest with a 1:13.467, while Russell was forced to abandon his first Soft-tyre attempt after encountering traffic in the final sector.

Russell later found a clear lap but fell 0.048s short of Verstappen’s time. Moments later, Hamilton raised the bar significantly, setting a new benchmark of 1:13.026. Verstappen improved to 1:13.194, but Leclerc then slotted into second with a 1:13.137, just 0.111s behind his Ferrari team-mate.

Hadjar, who had been running out of sequence on Medium tyres, eventually bolted on a set of Softs and quickly made progress on the timesheet. The Frenchman rose to sixth behind Mercedes pair Russell and Antonelli with a lap of 1:14.087, though he remained just over a second down on Hamilton’s session-topping time.

With five minutes remaining, the red flags were shown after Sergio Pérez brought his Cadillac to a halt at Casino Square, with smoke pouring into the cockpit from the front-right brake ducts, which continued to smoke as the car stopped.

The Mexican’s car was quickly recovered and the track returned to green with two minutes left on the clock, but there was little meaningful running thereafter, with most drivers instead completing practice starts.

Hamilton therefore ended the session fastest ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen, with Russell fourth and Antonelli fifth. Hadjar took sixth place, ahead of the remaining runners, as Ferrari concluded the opening day in Monaco with both practice sessions topped by one of its drivers.

2026 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:13.026 36 164.505
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:13.137 0.111 36 164.256
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:13.194 0.168 35 164.128
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:13.405 0.379 35 163.656
5 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:13.529 0.503 35 163.380
6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:14.087 1.061 24 162.149
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:14.088 1.062 31 162.147
8 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:14.094 1.068 34 162.134
9 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:14.359 1.333 35 161.556
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:14.456 1.430 37 161.346
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Mercedes 1:14.497 1.471 37 161.257
12 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:14.512 1.486 34 161.225
13 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:14.600 1.574 39 161.034
14 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:14.748 1.722 37 160.716
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Mercedes 1:14.758 1.732 31 160.694
16 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:14.785 1.759 36 160.636
17 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:14.845 1.819 35 160.507
18 Sergio Pérez Cadillac/Ferrari 1:15.116 2.090 31 159.928
19 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:15.274 2.248 8 159.592
20 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Honda 1:15.294 2.268 30 159.550
21 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac/Ferrari 1:15.759 2.733 28 158.571
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Honda 1:16.174 3.148 27 157.707