Monaco Grand Prix – Difficult beginnings but a surprise among the rookies

Formula 1 welcomes 3 young drivers this season, namely Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri as well as Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin at Haas F1 Team.

This is the first time they will cross the principality of Monaco aboard an F1. Note that this is also the case for Williams driver Nicholas Latifi, who is in his second season in F1 but was unable to drive on the Monaco circuit in 2020, with the Grand Prix being canceled last year due to the health crisis.

However, this urban layout is surely the most complex of the championship and the young drivers did not need much time to understand the difficulty of the challenge that awaits them. During the first Free Practice session, the young rookies were able to find their marks. No incidents from their part, Yuki Tsunoda even achieving a good lap, thus claiming the ninth position, although nearly eight tenths behind his teammate, Pierre Gasly.

During the second Free Practice session, rookies Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher understood the consequences of a small mistake in Monaco.

It is first the Japanese driver who made the mistake in the first twenty minutes of this session by hitting the wall. End of the session for Tsunoda after only eleven laps on the track and work for the mechanics at AlphaTauri.

In the last ten minutes of these FP2, it was the Haas driver, Mick Schumacher, who came to kiss the barriers and the curb when arriving in the left turn of Massenet, damaging his rear right suspension.

Incident that brought an end to the session for the German as well as for all the drivers, due to the red flag being brought out because of Haas and its driver being in the run-off area at the exit of the Tunnel.

For the moment, the good performance among the rookies actually comes from Nikita Mazepin!

The Russian driver finished ahead of his teammate for the first time during the two Free Practice sessions. The Haas driver made no mistakes at the start of the Grand Prix weekend.

But these beginnings in F1 in Monaco are somewhat perilous for the majority of these young drivers. However, no need to worry, there is still a Free Practice session on Saturday to familiarize themselves before the start of the qualifying sessions.