Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes topped the first practice session for the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix on Friday, while champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull was only 11th. The struggling Mercedes team will have reasons to smile after Hamilton clocked the fastest time of 1 minute 12.169 seconds and George Russell in their second car was third. The McLaren of Oscar Piastri split the two Mercedes, only 0.029s behind Hamilton. Verstappen, meanwhile, was 11th as it seemed like Red Bull were working on set-up and longer runs. But the Dutchman got too close to the barriers several times, which could have …