Team Williams’ Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the first day of practice in the Principauté de Monaco, beating Lewis Hamiton’s McLaren and Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn.
In the morning session, Sebastian Vettel’s Renault engine went up in smoke, and in the final 90 minutes of practice, it was Robert Kubica's V8 engine that gave up the ghost. The spectacular failure, involving plumes of white smoke and fire, left the Pole unable to set a single flying lap in his BMW-Sauber, while his teammate Nick Heidfeld ran to a woeful 17th quickest. There was better fortune for Rosberg, whose Toyota-powered Williams so often tops the practice timesheets, followed by the promising form of Lewis Hamilton, who was within the top three all day in the Monte Carlo sunshine. Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile, has so far been consistently quicker than his teammate and championship leader Jenson Button in the Principality, while Ferrari's Felipe Massa also looks to be near the ultimate pace. It is reported that Button spent time in the garage following a light brush with an arm-co barrier. Massa found himself involved in a curious incident that reminded observers of the 2005 Casino Square pileup triggered by a loss of temper by Juan Pablo Montoya. The Brazilian, Massa, took time out to wave his fists at Giancarlo Fisichella, after first Massa held up his Roman rival, and then the equally angry occupant of the Force India had a turn thwarting the Ferrari. Toyota were running a new front wing in the afternoon session, but the highlight of the Cologne based team's Thursday was a 14th quickest lap time for Jarno Trulli. Free practice 1: 1 - Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'17"189 - 25 laps 2 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F60) - 1'17"499 - 30 3 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'17"578 - 25 4 - Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'17"686 - 29 5 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F60) - 1'17"839 - 29 6 - Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'18"000 - 29 7 - Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'18"024 - 27 8 - Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'18"080 - 27 9 - Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 1'18"283 - 30 10 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'18"348 - 22 11 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'18"695 - 37 12 - Nelson Piquet (Renault R29) - 1'19"204 - 36 13 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'19"233 - 16 14 - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'19"255 - 31 15 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'19"534 - 28 16 - Robert Kubica (BMW F1.09) - 1'19"560 - 20 17 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 1'19"579 - 23 18 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'19"600 - 24 19 - Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - 1'19"698 - 24 20 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1'19"831 - 28 Free practice 2: 1 - Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'15"243 - 44 laps 2 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'15"445 - 34 3 - Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'15"590 - 40 4 - Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'15"774 - 35 5 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F60) - 1'15"832 - 41 6 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'15"847 - 33 7 - Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'15"984 - 44 8 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F60) - 1'15"985 - 42 9 - Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'16"260 - 42 10 - Nelson Piquet (Renault R29) - 1'16"286 - 43 11 - Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 1'16"552 - 39 12 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'16"579 - 27 13 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'16"675 - 38 14 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1'16"915 - 43 15 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'16"983 - 48 16 - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'17"052 - 48 17 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 1'17"109 - 40 18 - Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - 1'17"207 - 45 19 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'17"504 - 45 20 - Robert Kubica (BMW F1.09) - no time - 2 * Unofficial timing Photos: Williams & McLaren teams
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