### Leclerc Tops FP1 Despite Early Collision with Stroll at Monaco GP

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in the first free practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, despite a collision with Lance Stroll that disrupted the session. The Ferrari driver clocked a best lap of 1m11.964s, holding off late challenges from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

The session was marred early on by an incident between Leclerc and Stroll at the hairpin. Stroll, driving for Aston Martin, veered onto the racing line as Leclerc approached at full speed, resulting in the Ferrari crashing into the back of the Aston Martin. Stroll explained over the team radio that he did not hear his race engineer’s warning about Leclerc’s approach. This led to a red flag after just nine minutes, as Leclerc's Ferrari required a new front wing and Stroll's car suffered rear suspension damage, ending his session.

Once the session resumed, Lewis Hamilton initially set the pace on medium tyres before the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Norris took over on soft tyres. Norris clocked a 1m13.615s to lead early, but Verstappen soon moved into third place on hard tyres. As the session progressed, the McLaren drivers again upped their pace, with Piastri breaking into the lead.

In the latter part of the hour-long session, Leclerc managed to set a benchmark time despite balance complaints, suggesting Ferrari could be more competitive in Monaco than previously thought. Max Verstappen, who had a slow start in the session, finally switched to soft tyres in the last quarter. Though his initial lap on the softs saw him only in seventh, he pushed to second place, closing the gap to 0.163s behind Leclerc.

Norris completed the session in third place, followed by Alex Albon’s Williams. Piastri and Mercedes' George Russell secured the fifth and sixth fastest times, respectively. Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly, and Lewis Hamilton followed, with Fernando Alonso completing the top ten.

The first practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix highlighted an intriguing mix of competitiveness across the teams, setting the stage for a thrilling race weekend.