Monaco, FP1: Lewis Hamilton fastest in opening practice
Max Verstappen claimed a surprise second place
Lewis Hamilton set the quickest lap of first practice in Monaco as rookie teenager Max Verstappen claimed a surprise second place with the time just under 1500ths of a second off the Mercedes: driver’s time. Third place in the opening session went to Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Hamilton was the busiest man on track, getting through 49 laps for a best time of 1:18.750, set relatively early in the session, as the initially damp track began to improve. It was Verstappen who most caught the eye though. Despite having no experience of the Monaco circuit the Dutch teenager go to grips with its demands in double quick time and he quickly rose through the order as his confidence grew. A late flying lap of 1:18.899 eventually netted him P2 on the time sheet, just 0.149 adrift of Hamilton’s benchmark.
The Toro Rosso driver’s late lap put him ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian driver has targeted Monaco as Red Bull’s best chance of a podium finish this season and as if to prove his credentials Ricciardo set the fastest first sector during the session. In the end his best time was 0.336 down on Hamilton’s.
Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Ferrari, ending up 0.384s slower than Hamilton, while Carlos Sainz completed a good morning for Toro Rosso by setting the session’s fifth fastest time.
Pastor Maldonado finished sixth for Lotus, though the Venezuelan’s session wasn’t without incident. He was among a number of drivers forced to use the escape road at Sainte Devote, Maldonado twice overcooking it into turn one. Williams: Valtteri Bottas also made two trips off circuit at the corner.
Seventh place went to Daniil Kvyat in the second Red Bull, while Kimi Räikkönen was eighth in the second Ferrari.
Nico Rosberg might have been expected to join Mercedes team-mate Hamilton at the top of the order but the German, who claimed pole and victory in 2013 and last year, hit the barriers at Tabac early in the session and though there appeared to minimal damage he ended the session in ninth place and over a second behind Hamilton.
Felipe Massa rounded out the top ten for Williams ahead of the McLaren pair of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.
Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes AMG | 1:18.750 | 49 |
02 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso Renault | 1:18.899 | 42 |
03 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Renault | 1:19.086 | 27 |
04 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:19.134 | 31 |
05 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso Renault | 1:19.245 | 40 |
06 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus Mercedes | 1:19.454 | 35 |
07 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull Renault | 1:19.520 | 33 |
08 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:19.679 | 31 |
09 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes AMG | 1:19.762 | 47 |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:19.766 | 32 |
11 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:19.791 | 28 |
12 | Jenson Button | McLaren Honda | 1:20.202 | 15 |
13 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus Mercedes | 1:20.274 | 34 |
14 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:20.619 | 35 |
15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India Mercedes | 1:20.784 | 34 |
16 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber Ferrari | 1:20.857 | 24 |
17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams Mercedes | 1:20.917 | 36 |
18 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:21.219 | 25 |
19 | Will Stevens | Manor Ferrari | 1:23.234 | 27 |
20 | Roberto Merhi | Manor Ferrari | 1:23.404 | 31 |