Nael revels in ‘dream’ Monte Carlo debut after a positive showing in Free Practice

22 May 2025

Théophile Nael was delighted to achieve his dream of driving around the Monte Carlo street circuit in Free Practice, but the Van Amersfoort Racing rookie is already looking at ways to improve for Qualifying.

The Frenchman had a strong debut outing on Thursday and with his final lap of the day, rocketed up to 10th on the leaderboard.

This meant Nael ended Free Practice not only in the top 10 but as the second highest placed rookie on the timesheets, behind only Championship leader Rafael Câmara in P4.

“It was so great,” said Nael when asked about his maiden practice session in Monaco. “Driving around this city has always been a dream for me, so it was a really good first session for us.

“The time to adapt was a bit long on track, but then at the end, I managed to do a good lap and I also got some fresh ideas for tomorrow.

Nael was delighted to drive on the Monte Carlo streets for the first time

“The car was good. We are trying to put all the data together, with Santiago as well I can see a lot from him, he has quite a lot of experience here as well, so we are trying to have a good preparation together as a team.”

When asked about the difficulties of putting a lap together around Monte Carlo, Nael spoke of the traffic issues he encountered, specifically at the final corner.

PRACTICE: Tsolov leads the way ahead of Tramnitz in Monte Carlo

The 17-year-old was not too frustrated by those interruptions, but sees them more as a warning for what he and engineers have to work on overnight before heading into Qualifying.

“I got blocked at the last corner because of traffic unfortunately,” said Nael. “But for tomorrow we know that it is going to be critical to start a lap with a big gap ahead.

“My engineers and I are going to try to work on that because we have to do clean laps and that means we have to watch out in the last sector.”

The VAR driver says he knows where he can improve heading into Qualifying

Previewing Qualifying, Nael expects the track to be slightly different to the one he and the grid left in Free Practice. The French driver also has clear ideas on where he can find more time in the car and with his own driving.

“For me I am feeling great,” said Nael. “I know where I can improve within myself, so that's something good. We also have to still to think about how we have a clean lap and not take any risks.

“The pace is looking good, the track is going to improve with Formula 1 as well, so tomorrow I am going to start from zero and then build again the rhythm lap after lap.”