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The 2023 F1 Monaco GP kicked off with the first hour of running that ended with an all too familiar shunt. Alex Albon pushed too hard in his Williams, which led to the car suffering severe damage. Before that, we had Nico Hulkenberg as well tapping the wall out of the tunnel and ending his FP1 early.
In between these stoppages that didn't really last too long, we had a very intriguing session that saw Carlos Sainz top the timesheets with the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso alongside him. After the first sixty minutes of running at the 2023 F1 Monaco GP, what did we learn? Let's take a look.
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2023 F1 Monaco GP FP1: Key Learnings
#1. Carlos Sainz in his Ferrari looks surprisingly impressive
The first 60 mins have confirmed what many pundits were suggesting as Ferrari looks very impressive at the start of the weekend. The car has appeared to be in a much happier place than its competitors and it shows.
What has been surprising, however, is Carlos Sainz being the driver leading the charge for Ferrari. Unlike quite a few weekends this season, the Spaniard seems to have hit the groove and for now, looks to be the quicker Ferrari. It could very easily be the case that Charles Leclerc is keeping his cards close to his chest but what we've seen until now is that both Carlos Sainz and Ferrari look very impressive.
#2. Red Bull, especially Max Verstappen, is all over the place
Although it could all be down to the setup of the car just like Max Verstappen said, the Red Bull seems all over the place at the 2023 F1 Monaco GP. Looking at Verstappen's onboards and even the lines he's taking, it's more than obvious that the driver has no confidence in the car.
He's driving within himself and even then, making a few errors here and there over a lap. Red Bull need to find a solution for this before FP2 because if Verstappen cannot be confident to push over a lap, it's not going to be the best of weekends for him or the team.
#3. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have hit the ground running
Fernando Alonso is doing what he does best and that is hitting the ground running with Aston Martin. In Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton seems to have found his groove early in the 2023 F1 Monaco GP weekend while his teammate George Russell appears to be struggling with the car.
Although these are still early days in the 2023 F1 Monaco GP race weekend, what's obvious is that the two veterans seem to have the edge over their teammates for now. While one could hedge a bet over Alonso continuing to enjoy this advantage over Stroll, it will be interesting to see if George Russell could bounce back against Lewis Hamilton during the 2023 F1 Monaco GP weekend.
#4. Lando Norris seems to have something special in the bag
Lando Norris is back on his giant-killing spree once again as he continues to separate himself from the midfield every time McLaren has a decent car. During the 2023 F1 Monaco GP weekend, the car might be competitive enough to fight it out in the midfield if we go by the times set in FP1.
If the form continues and the consequent rise in temperature over the weekend does not derail McLaren's weekend, Norris might be on his way to putting together another impressive weekend, where he scores the maximum points possible with the car at his disposal.
#5. The grid is divided into two very competitive blocks
With Red Bull seemingly not enjoying the very familiar advantage over the rest of the grid this weekend, it does appear that the grid is divided into two very competitive blocks. The first block has Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Red Bull while the second block has Alpine, McLaren, Haas, Williams, Alfa Romeo, and AlphaTauri.
Unless Red Bull find something magical this weekend, qualifying might just prove to be a driver's paradise, where individual drivers make the difference. We could see a close fight for pole position and in the same breath, the fight in Q1, Q2, and Q3 between the midfield teams is going to be tantalizing, to say the least.
