Max Verstappen quickest as Carlos Sainz crashes out of second practice

Runaway championship leader Max Verstappen edged both Ferraris in second practice for the Monaco Grand Prix as Carlos Sainz crashed out of the session. 

Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Sainz were both within 0.107s of Verstappen time of 1:12.462, suggesting the Italian team can fight for pole on Saturday. 

Sainz, who had gone quickest in first practice a few hours earlier, saw his session end early after clipping the inside wall at the second Swimming Pool chicane. That broke the front-right suspension and meant he could not stop from hitting the wall on the exit of the corner. 

The incident was similar to Leclerc's crash during qualifying in 2021, which prevented the Monegasque driver from starting that year's race from pole position as it left his car with a damaged gearbox. 

Ferrari will hope to avoid similar this time around, although Sainz's hit with the wall did not seem too extreme. 

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso finished fourth quickest, 0.220s off the pace, ahead of Lando Norris, who again put in an impressive showing for McLaren, having finished seventh in FP1. 

Lewis Hamilton, driving the newly-upgraded Mercedes, was nearly half a second off the pace in sixth. 

Alex Albon, who crashed at the end of first practice, did make it out for 10 laps of running in the repaired Williams.