Posted on 25th May 2017
In the first practice session at the Monaco circuit today, Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen in a session that saw the drivers perfecting their set ups and seeing where they need to improve before FP2, FP3 and Qualifying on Saturday.
But all of the drivers wasted little time in the 90 minutes, Ferrari and Red Bull running the ultra-softs straight away, while Mercedes focused its early running on the super-softs. But the main focus point was on Jenson Button who replaces Fernando Alonso this weekend as Alonso prepares to race in the Indy 500.
During FP1, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen spent a lot of the time in the garage after Red Bull spotted a “potential right rear puncture” and called him into the pits, and he managed to complete his best time in the latter part of the session.
Also in the session, Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen kissed the barrier at the Swimming Pool but escaped without damage to his car as Haas driver Romain Grosjean spun at Sainte Devote but continued on during the session.
Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg failed to complete a flying lap, as Renault spent most of the session investigating a problem with the energy store and also Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson also failed to get a time on the board after encountering a gearbox problem.
But it was Lewis Hamilton who was fastest with a lap time of 1:13.425 ahead of Sebastian Vettel in second place who was 0.196 seconds behind him and ahead of Max Verstappen in third place who was 0.346 seconds behind Hamilton.
Valtteri Bottas finished the session in fourth place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth place, Daniil Kvyat in sixth place, Kimi Raikkonen in seventh place, Sergio Perez in eighth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in ninth place and Esteban Ocon who rounded off the top ten finishers.
Felipe Massa ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne in twelfth place, Kevin Magnussen in thirteenth place, Jenson Button in fourteenth place and Romain Grosjean in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Lance Stroll ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Jolyon Palmer in seventeenth place, Pascal Wehrlein in eighteenth place, Nico Hulkenberg in nineteenth place and Marcus Ericsson in twentieth place.
The classification of FP1 for the Monaco GP is as follows:–
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.13.345
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.196s
3. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.346s
4. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 0.366s
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.429s
6. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 0.686s
7. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.739s
8. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 0.776s
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 0.908s
10. Esteban Ocon, Force India-Mercedes, 1.000s
11. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1.192s
12. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren-Honda, 1.388s
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas Ferrari, 1.445s
14. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 1.529s
15. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 1.896s
16. Lance Stroll, Williams-Mercedes, 2.170s
17. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 2.524s
18. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber-Ferrari, 2.833s
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, No Time
20. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, No Time
Driving for Pleasure will be covering the Monaco GP weekend with our practice, qualifying and race reports alongside the latest news.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
