Sawt Falasteen - Leclerc tops first Monaco practice after early collision

Leclerc, who won last year's race to become the first home winner in the modern era of the world championship, struggled initially, locking up at Mirabeau and taking to the run-off.

The 27-year-old then triggered a red flag by colliding into the rear of Lance Stroll's Aston Martin at the Hotel Hairpin.

The Canadian appeared not to realise how close Leclerc was as he moved into the racing line despite receiving messages.

Both recovered to pit for repairs with Leclerc needing work on his front wing. He came back out to clock a best lap of one minute and 11.964 seconds to beat Verstappen by 0.163sec.

That pushed Lando Norris down to third in his fancied McLaren, three-tenths off the pace, just ahead of Williams' Alex Albon, championship leader Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren and Mercedes' George Russell.

Carlos Sainz was seventh for Williams, ahead of Pierre Gasly of Alpine, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari, and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin.

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST