Eye-popping day for Hamilton at Monaco GP as Leclerc cruises

By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Auto Racing Writer

MONACO (AP) — Lewis Hamilton drove at the Monaco Grand Prix with his nose stud in after Formula One’s jewelry ban was put on hold. Then he felt his eyeballs popping as his Mercedes bounced around the jewel in the F1 calendar’s crown. Hamilton compared the track where he first won 14 years ago to a freaky funfair ride. The seven-time F1 Hamilton has won three times in Monaco yet experienced the track like never before, saying “it feels like my eyeballs are coming out of their sockets.” There were no dramas at the top as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led both sessions and edged out championship leader Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.