Stroll handed one-place grid drop for silly FP1 shunt into Leclerc

Leclerc, last year's winner from pole position, broke his front wing in the incident but, after a brief red flag period, ended Friday's opening session on top around the twisty harbourside street circuit. Stroll only managed four laps and was classified last in FP1.

At the sharp end, Leclerc's time of 1:11.964 seconds was 0.163s quicker than Red Bull's four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen, who won last Sunday in Imola.

McLaren's Lando Norris was P3 with championship-leading teammate Oscar Piastri P5, on the slower medium tyres, and behind Williams' Alex Albon.

Leclerc's teammate and seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton was top of the timing screens early on but ended up ninth after going airborne over the kerbs at the swimming pool exit and possibly damaging his car's floor.

Mercedes' George Russell was sixth fastest with Williams' Carlos Sainz seventh and Alpine's Pierre Gasly eighth. Aston Martin's double F1 world champion Fernando Alonso completed the top 10, who were separated by just 0.7 of a second.

Leclerc and Stroll collided early on at the hairpin, with the session stopped to clear up debris and the Aston Martin suffering rear suspension damage and requiring a gearbox change. Ferrari put a new front wing on Leclerc's car and sent him back out when the track re-opened.

Stewards found that Stroll had cut across Leclerc's path and was wholly to blame for the collision. In his defence, Stroll said that although his team had warned him of Leclerc's approach, he did not hear the radio message.

Leclerc, on pole in three of the last four races in Monaco, had played down his team's chances on Thursday while hoping for a surprise.

Ferrari have lacked single-lap pace and struggled with slower corners this season but Monaco, the slowest track of all, offers the chance to set up the car without having to compromise on straight-line speed.