Trident Team Manager Giacomo Ricci wants his drivers, Calan Williams and Richard Verschoor, to “maximise” Thursday’s free practice in pursuit of a good Monaco result for the team in this weekend’s FIA Formula 2 round.

The Italian team failed to score points at the previous round in Spain, despite Australian driver Williams starting the reverse-grid Sprint from pole position.

The 21-year-old unfortunately stalled at the beginning of the formation lap, which blew any hopes of a strong result, keeping him on five points so far this season.

Dutchman Richard Verschoor, who is currently seventh in the driver championship, won at the opening round in Bahrain, before a second place in Saudi Arabia, but has not scored in either of the previous two rounds at Imola or Barcelona.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Ricci said: “Monte Carlo offers no room for mistakes in practice, qualifying, and race day.

“Our drivers need to maximise Thursday’s free practice session to provide the engineers with the best possible feedback in order to find the correct set-up choices.”

Thursday’s practice session is made more crucial than usual, as the tight streets offer very little opportunity for overtaking in the races.

Qualifying, which is split into two groups in Monaco, is therefore critical to a strong weekend in Monte Carlo

Ricci added: “We lost a bit of sharpness at Imola and Montmeló. Our goal is to do well at Monaco and get back to the level we had at the beginning of the year.”

F2 Rookie Williams will be competing at Monaco for the first time, while Verschoor returns to the track, having scored a sixth place in 2021 driving for MP Motorsport.

MP Motorsport currently leads both driver and team standings after Brazilian Felipe Drugovich, who won both races last weekend in Spain, while Trident are seventh in the teams’ championship with 37-points.

Image: Formula Motorsport Limited