Can anybody keep up with the Mercedes team?
MONTE CARLO, Monaco—May 23rd—The twisty, tight street track of Monaco made no difference to the Mercedes team as both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas easily placed 1-2 respectively in both practice sessions in advance of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel was third in his Ferrari.
Hamilton capped off the best time of the day in the second session with a 1:11:118 fastest lap time.
The only driver that seems to be capable of taking the fight to Mercedes, Max Verstappen, finished the day a disappointing sixth overall. The Dutchman had to spend nearly the entire second session in the garage as his team tended to a water leak issue. When he returned to the circuit, Verstappen complained of a lack of front-end grip.
Pierre Gasly was impressive finishing fourth, but Alex Albon’s performance was the surprise of the day. The Thai–born British rookie was impressive in taking fifth, one position up from Verstappen, and quite ahead of his teammate Dani Kvyat, who could do no better than 14th.
One team that was never in the running was struggling Renault.
For the American Haas F1 Team, Friday proved that the team can still improve on its “best of the rest” challenge. Romain Grosjean took 11th, but teammate, Kevin Magnussen–who is currently seventh in the driver’s championship–finished the day with the same number on the grid. The Dane is certainly having the best season of his career.
But weeks into this season, a reality remains: Can anybody keep up with Mercedes?
Mercedes has dominated the action with Hamilton’s three wins and Bottas’ two.
