Free Practice 3: Viva Alonso on the Monegasque Rock

It is Fernando Alonso for the Renault team who recorded the fastest time in the third practice session on the streets of the Principality of Monaco. The weather is ideal, and the Spaniard wins a showdown against Jenson Button of Brawn. Heikki Kovalainen, Rubens Barrichello, and Felipe Massa complete the top 5.

Fernando Alonso sets the fastest time of the weekend in the final moments of the session. The top seven drivers are within 0.3 seconds.

During a frenetic session, the 2005 and 2006 world champion eclipsed the championship leader Jenson Button with only 0.069s difference for a time of 1:15.233. Heikki Kovalainen pushed hard with McLaren to secure third place.

Rubens Barrichello is therefore fourth at the wheel of the second Brawn, ahead of the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen. Lewis Hamilton is in seventh place, 0.225s from Alonso.

Williams driver Nico Rosberg is ninth, sandwiched between Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and then Mark Webber.

The Toyotas of Jarno Trulli (20th and last) and Timo Glock (17th) were the first to assert their strength until Hamilton took the lead after a quarter of an hour.

The reigning world champion then held firm for a large part of the session, despite strong opposition in the first 20 minutes between Alonso and Rosberg, who had an impressive five-lap sequence. The best will not be enough as the German encounters Robert Kubica in the BMW, who is slower. The Pole is only 18th.

The 1:15.622 from Hamilton was good enough to retain the throne until the teams started changing to super-soft tires in the last 20 minutes.

But at that precise moment, the Briton improves his own time with 1:15.389. The next lap, he is forced to pit after damaging his front wing against the wall.

Behind him, the Ferraris of Massa and Räikkönen were engaged in a battle for second place with Barrichello. And finally, with only 12 minutes remaining, the Finn managed to outperform Hamilton with a lap time of 1.15.382, 0.007s better.

Button didn’t make much of a show until an almost perfect lap with the green-bordered tires, he is better by 0.149s.

It is in a frenetic finale that the inevitable traffic problems appear, and Alonso sets a lap in 1:15.164s.

After three sessions, there have not yet been any significant incidents. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) is 11th ahead of Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Sébastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso). Both drivers perform better than their respective teammates with Giancarlo Fisichella 14th and Sébastien Buemi 16th. Nelson Piquet is only 15th for Renault.

Free Practice 3 Results – Monaco – Saturday, May 23, 2009: