Two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso set on Thursday the best time of the two practice sessions leading to the most prestigious Formula 1 race of the season, the Grand Prix of Monaco.
“It seems we are a bit more competitive than elsewhere, although one has to adopt the usual caution linked to the unknown factor of how much fuel the others were running,” said Alonso.
“However, the reason is very simple in that here, the aerodynamics count for less and so we are suffering less.”
Second quickest overall was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, on tenth of a second down to the Ferrari. “You quickly get used to DRS and KERS Hybrid, but you’re only really on it for the pit straight and up the hill; you tend not to use it through the slower sections,” Hamilton explained.
“Maybe I’ll find a few more places to use it for qualifying – but I’ll keep that in my pocket! I just love driving the car here – it’s the best thing I’ve ever done! It’s so exciting – you can’t afford to make mistakes, the car feels amazing when you’re jumping from kerb to kerb, and there’s no room for error.”
German Nico Rosberg put his Mercedes in third place. “It can be difficult here to find the right settings as you have to put a lot of things together such as brake balance and tire degradation, but we had a decent day and I'm happy with our start into the weekend.”
His teammate Michael Schumacher had a small accident going into turn one in the closing minutes of P1 which ended his session early. He ended up 7th in the second session.
Pirelli expected their super-soft tire would be good for ten laps in the streets of Monaco. But in second practice the tyres were lasting for more than 20. This issue will force the race engineers to modify their strategies.
Grand Prix de Monaco, 1st practice session*, Thursday:
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB7-Renault) - 1'16"619 - 25 laps
2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) - 1'16"732 - 24
3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1'17"139 - 20
4 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) - 1'17"316 - 24
5 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'17"350 - 23
6 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'17"534 - 24
7 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'18"527 - 30
8 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'18"578 - 24
9 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 1'18"733 - 16
10 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1'18"805 - 14
11 - Nick Heidfeld (Renault R31) - 1'18"928 - 19
12 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'19"234 - 24
13 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'19"395 - 24
14 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'19"463 - 25
15 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'19"768 - 25
16 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'19"792 - 26
17 - Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'20"083 - 23
18 - Jarno Trulli (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'21"116 - 27
19 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'21"548 - 32
20 - Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'21"758 - 31
21 - Timo Glock (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'21"815 - 17
22 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 1'22"840 - 13
23 - Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 1'23"885 – 37
24 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB7-Renault) – no timed lap - 3
Grand Prix de Monaco, 2nd practice session*, Thursday:
1 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) - 1'15"123 - 42 laps
2 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'15"228 - 33
3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1'15"321 - 44
4 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'15"448 - 38
5 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB7-Renault) - 1'15"667 – 46
6 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) - 1'15"781 - 45
7 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1'16"356 - 33
8 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB7-Renault) – 1’16”642 - 42
9 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'17"101 - 46
10 - Nick Heidfeld (Renault R31) - 1'17"126 – 38
11 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 1'17"337 - 35
12 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'17"541 - 47
13 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'17"570 - 39
14 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'17"581 - 32
15 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'17"633 – 49
16 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'17"706 - 37
17 - Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'17"789 - 43
18 - Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'18"266 - 50
19 - Jarno Trulli (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'28"490 - 39
20 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'19"053 – 15
21 - Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'19"185 - 40
22 - Timo Glock (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'19"338 - 35
23 - Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 1'22"066 – 33
24 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania F111-Cosworth) – no timed laps
*Unofficial timing
 |
| Fernando Alonso's new helmet for Monaco. (Photo: Ferrari) |
“It seems we are a bit more competitive than elsewhere, although one has to adopt the usual caution linked to the unknown factor of how much fuel the others were running,” said Alonso.
“However, the reason is very simple in that here, the aerodynamics count for less and so we are suffering less.”
Second quickest overall was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, on tenth of a second down to the Ferrari. “You quickly get used to DRS and KERS Hybrid, but you’re only really on it for the pit straight and up the hill; you tend not to use it through the slower sections,” Hamilton explained.
“Maybe I’ll find a few more places to use it for qualifying – but I’ll keep that in my pocket! I just love driving the car here – it’s the best thing I’ve ever done! It’s so exciting – you can’t afford to make mistakes, the car feels amazing when you’re jumping from kerb to kerb, and there’s no room for error.”
German Nico Rosberg put his Mercedes in third place. “It can be difficult here to find the right settings as you have to put a lot of things together such as brake balance and tire degradation, but we had a decent day and I'm happy with our start into the weekend.”
His teammate Michael Schumacher had a small accident going into turn one in the closing minutes of P1 which ended his session early. He ended up 7th in the second session.
Pirelli expected their super-soft tire would be good for ten laps in the streets of Monaco. But in second practice the tyres were lasting for more than 20. This issue will force the race engineers to modify their strategies.
Grand Prix de Monaco, 1st practice session*, Thursday:
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB7-Renault) - 1'16"619 - 25 laps
2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) - 1'16"732 - 24
3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1'17"139 - 20
4 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) - 1'17"316 - 24
5 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'17"350 - 23
6 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'17"534 - 24
7 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'18"527 - 30
8 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'18"578 - 24
9 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 1'18"733 - 16
10 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1'18"805 - 14
11 - Nick Heidfeld (Renault R31) - 1'18"928 - 19
12 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'19"234 - 24
13 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'19"395 - 24
14 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'19"463 - 25
15 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'19"768 - 25
16 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'19"792 - 26
17 - Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'20"083 - 23
18 - Jarno Trulli (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'21"116 - 27
19 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'21"548 - 32
20 - Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'21"758 - 31
21 - Timo Glock (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'21"815 - 17
22 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 1'22"840 - 13
23 - Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 1'23"885 – 37
24 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB7-Renault) – no timed lap - 3
Grand Prix de Monaco, 2nd practice session*, Thursday:
1 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) - 1'15"123 - 42 laps
2 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'15"228 - 33
3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1'15"321 - 44
4 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'15"448 - 38
5 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB7-Renault) - 1'15"667 – 46
6 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) - 1'15"781 - 45
7 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1'16"356 - 33
8 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB7-Renault) – 1’16”642 - 42
9 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'17"101 - 46
10 - Nick Heidfeld (Renault R31) - 1'17"126 – 38
11 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 1'17"337 - 35
12 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'17"541 - 47
13 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'17"570 - 39
14 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'17"581 - 32
15 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'17"633 – 49
16 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'17"706 - 37
17 - Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'17"789 - 43
18 - Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'18"266 - 50
19 - Jarno Trulli (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'28"490 - 39
20 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'19"053 – 15
21 - Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'19"185 - 40
22 - Timo Glock (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'19"338 - 35
23 - Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 1'22"066 – 33
24 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania F111-Cosworth) – no timed laps
*Unofficial timing