PRACTICE: Nael heads the field in extended Monte Carlo session

Campos Racing’s Théophile Nael hit the ground running in Monte Carlo, finishing fastest of all in Practice on a 1:25.794.

TRIDENT driver Freddie Slater was able to split up the Campos cars at the head of the field, ending up second and just over half a tenth off the top spot. Ugo Ugochukwu rounded out the top three for the Spanish outfit.

Following a short Virtual Safety Car test along with preparation laps, PREMA Racing’s James Wharton set the initial benchmark that was quickly beaten by several drivers.

Gerrard Xie set a 1:28.109 to lead for DAMS Lucas Oil before a Red Flag was thrown following a crash for Wharton at Turn 14.

With the Australian out of his car and the PREMA cleared away, barrier repairs took place and once completed, the session was extended by 15 extra minutes.

The light went green once more with 28 minutes on the clock, and everyone was eager to get back out on track.

Théophile Nael and teammate Ernesto Rivera went to P1 next, before Xie restored DAMS to the top of the times on a 1:27.444.

Maciej Gladysz put ART Grand Prix on top with 18 minutes to go, 0.195s clear of the field but with the track continuing to improve. Brando Badoer then logged a 1:27.055 for Rodin Motorsport to become the newest driver to lead the field.

With 13 minutes left, Bruno del Pino set a 1:26.482 to further lower the time to beat for Van Amersfoort Racing.

Nael returned Campos to P1 with a 1:26.460, 0.022s quicker than del Pino in second while teammate Ugochukwu filtered into third just over a tenth down on the Frenchman.

That was until Slater set the new fastest time of the session, with the TRIDENT going comfortably quickest on a 1:26.135.

Ugochukwu bettered that by a shade, but Nael broke into the 25s on a 1:25.806 to lead a Campos 1-2.

Despite traffic in the final corners, Slater was able to move himself up to P2 and cut the deficit to 0.169s.

Nael found one final improvement, setting a 1:25.794 to cap off an impressive session. Slater achieved a personal best on his final lap too, cutting the gap to 0.069s at the chequered flag.

Ugochukwu finished up third ahead of del Pino and Pedro Clerot in P5. Louis Sharp was sixth for PREMA ahead of Rivera, Taito Kato, Noah Stromsted and Enzo Deligny, who rounded out the top 10.

Qualifying is scheduled to get underway on Friday morning at 11:05 local time, with Group B following at 11:29.