Charles Leclerc finished on top of the time charts at the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix in the second free practice session (FP2). Carlos Sainz was in second position, 0.112 seconds behind. Lewis Hamilton was 0.390 seconds adrift of Leclerc’s time in third position.
The sixty-minute long free practice session started under cool conditions with the air temperature at 22 degrees C and the track temperature at 47 degrees C.
The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C3), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C4), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C5).
Lando Norris went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m14.997s. Carlos Sainz soon displaced him at the top on the hard compound tyres. Charles Leclerc who missed most of the first practice session set the fastest lap of the session.
Max Verstappen was soon setting fastest laps and set a lap time of 1m13.499s to top the time charts. As drivers kept improving their lap times, Hamilton set exactly the same lap time as Verstappen.
Then Hamilton with a lap time of 1m12.569s went 0.469 seconds faster than the previous time to move to the top of the time charts. Behind Hamilton and Verstappen, Sergio Pérez, Sainz, Pierre Gasly, Norris and Valtteri Bottas were jostling for positions.
Fifteen minutes into the session, Verstappen was within 0.232 seconds of Hamilton with Bottas in third position. Sainz who was in great form in the first practice session improved to second position behind Hamilton, just 0.180 seconds behind him.
Bottas improved to within 0.142 seconds of team-mate Hamilton at the top. Nicholas Latifi briefly brought out the yellow flags as he went off at the hairpin.
Bottas and Hamilton were soon on the soft compound tyres with Bottas leading the way with a lap time of 1m12.107s . Hamilton with a scrappy lap was 0.173s behind him.
With thirty minutes to go, the order was Bottas, Hamilton, Antonio Giovinazzi, Sainz, Verstappen, Pérez, Kimi Räikkönen, Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Latifi.
Sainz and Verstappen moved to the top of the time charts with their soft compound tyre runs. Hamilton displaced Verstappen for second position 0.278 seconds behind Sainz.
Leclerc put in his best lap of the session which took him to fourth position, 0.297s behind Sainz. The Monégasque driver in his home race improved to top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m11.684s .
With fifteen minutes to go, the Ferrari drivers were on top of the time charts and the drivers started their race simulation. With less than five minutes to go, Mick Schumacher brought out the red flags as he hit the barriers at Massenet.
The session ended with Leclerc and Sainz leading the way from Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas. Norris was in sixth position even as his McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo languished in fifteenth position.
Gasly finished in seventh position for the Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda team. Yuki Tsunoda after a brush with the barriers did not take part in the rest of the session and was in last position.
Pérez after a good start to the session finished in eighth position. The Alpha Romeo Racing team drivers, Giovinazzi and Räikkönen finished in ninth and eleventh positions.
Sebastian Vettel led the way for the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team in tenth position even as Lance Stroll finished in thirteenth position. The Alpine F1 team drivers Fernando Alonso and Ocon finished in twelfth and fourteenth positions. The Williams Racing and Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers brought up the rear of the field.
2021 Monaco Grand Prix Second Free Practice Results:
| Pos | No | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:11.684 | 30 | |
| 2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:11.796 | +0.112s | 32 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:12.074 | +0.390s | 28 |
| 4 | 33 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing | 1:12.081 | +0.397s | 27 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:12.107 | +0.423s | 32 |
| 6 | 4 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1:12.379 | +0.695s | 24 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:12.498 | +0.814s | 28 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Red Bull Racing | 1:12.708 | +1.024s | 24 |
| 9 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:12.746 | +1.062s | 28 |
| 10 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1:12.982 | +1.298s | 26 |
| 11 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:13.065 | +1.381s | 31 |
| 12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Alpine F1 Team | 1:13.175 | +1.491s | 27 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1:13.195 | +1.511s | 26 |
| 14 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine F1 Team | 1:13.199 | +1.515s | 28 |
| 15 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1:13.257 | +1.573s | 26 |
| 16 | 63 | George Russell | GBR | Williams Racing | 1:13.509 | +1.825s | 32 |
| 17 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Williams Racing | 1:13.593 | +1.909s | 31 |
| 18 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | RAF | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1:14.407 | +2.723s | 26 |
| 19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1:14.416 | +2.732s | 25 |
| 20 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | JAP | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:14.829 | +3.145s | 11 |
