Monaco – Free Practice 1: Hamilton gets off to a flying start, Button has a scare
On the new ultra-tendres, Lewis Hamilton topped the first session in the Principality. With an already promising lap time, he was ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel, who was relegated by more than four tenths. The session was marked by a number of incidents, including a piece of a manhole cover that went out of control...
The 22 drivers on the grid familiarized themselves this morning during the first practice session of the Monaco weekend.
A warm-up facilitated by mild weather: dry and generally sunny with around twenty degrees in the air compared to about thirty on the track.
First half-hour and initial assessments of the new Pirelli tire:
In this regard, the Mercedes drivers did not slack off as soon as they took to the track! Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg first set off with the new ultra-soft tires for a long first stint (12 laps each).
Frustrated certainly from their clash in Catalonia, Hamilton and Rosberg livened up this first half-hour. Upon their return to the pits, a high-performing but quite worn tire was noted, suggesting a lifespan of around fifteen laps.
The times were already flying: with an initial reference of 1:16:588 for Hamilton, the Brit was six-tenths ahead of the two Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen. Always in a jovial mood outside his car, the Australian lost his cool at that moment to give the middle finger, to a still unidentified recipient.
Pas très content @danielricciardo, mais pourquoi? #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/bwlojEmWt7
— Thibaut Goetz (@Thibaut_Goetz) 26 mai 2016
Rosberg, on the other hand, was not yet chasing lap times, with a car set very low on downforce. As usual, at the end of these first thirty minutes, all the drivers returned to the pits and handed their first set of tires back to Pirelli.
Conversely, mastering the 3.337-kilometer circuit takes time. It caused a few cold sweats, as it did for Jolyon Palmer in the last turn, or Esteban Gutierrez, who miraculously recovered his Haas at the Tunnel exit.
Massa and Palmer the first in the rail:
All the drivers were practicing their routines with varying degrees of success: Lewis Hamilton notably gave us a big wheel lock-up at the first braking point… and a reverse.
Felipe Massa, on his part, will remain the first victim of Sainte-Dévote. A major oversteer and a Williams that ends its race in the wall. The Brazilian returns to his bad habits, having already failed twice at the same spot with his Ferrari in 2013. As every year, the drivers will have to find the ideal braking point to master the first sequence.
But another driver got a bit too close to the rail. On his first set of ultra-softs, Jolyon Palmer placed his Renault at the entrance of the resurfaced Tobacco corner for the occasion.
The two Mercedes above the pack on ultra-softs
The temperature is rising on the track and in the cockpits…
On an increasingly grippy track, Hamilton set a very interesting time of 1:15.537! Nico Rosberg was hot on his teammate’s heels, just a tenth behind. The Mercedes dominated this first session from start to finish, which was cut short by a red flag two minutes before the end.
Towards the Sainte-Dévote exit, disaster was narrowly avoided. A piece of steel from a manhole cover became detached from the ground. Dislodged by Nico Rosberg’s passage, it nearly hit Jenson Button’s visor as he arrived at that moment! A curious incident that the organizers will need to fix at all costs in anticipation of the continuation of the event…
Sebastian Vettel placed himself as the best of the rest, four-tenths behind the two Mercedes. He was ahead of the two Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen. A similar hierarchy to Barcelona already seems to be emerging in Monaco.
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|
1
|
Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:15:537 |
31
|
|
|
2
|
Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:15:638 | +0.101 |
39
|
|
3
|
Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:15:956 | +0.419 |
26
|
|
4
|
Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing | 1:16:308 | +0.771 |
29
|
|
5
|
Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1:16:371 | +0.834 |
30
|
|
6
|
Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:16:426 | +0.889 |
37
|
|
7
|
Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:16:560 | +1.023 |
34
|
|
8
|
Perez | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:16:697 | +1.160 |
28
|
|
9
|
Räikkönen | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:16:912 | +1.375 |
24
|
|
10
|
Sainz Jr. | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:17:130 | +1.593 |
39
|
|
11
|
Bottas | Williams Martini Racing | 1:17:562 | +2.025 |
44
|
|
12
|
Grosjean | Haas F1 Team | 1:17:599 | +2.062 |
33
|
|
13
|
Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:17:838 | +2.301 |
27
|
|
14
|
Gutierrez | Haas F1 Team | 1:17:909 | +2.372 |
25
|
|
15
|
Button | McLaren Honda | 1:17:920 | +2.383 |
26
|
|
16
|
Nasr | Sauber F1 Team | 1:18:187 | +2.650 |
29
|
|
17
|
Magnussen | Renault F1 Team | 1:18:274 | +2.737 |
34
|
|
18
|
Ericsson | Sauber F1 Team | 1:18:301 | +2.764 |
33
|
|
19
|
Massa | Williams Martini Racing | 1:18:746 | +3.209 |
10
|
|
20
|
Palmer | Renault F1 Team | 1:18:871 | +3.334 |
22
|
|
21
|
Haryanto | Manor Marussia F1 | 1:20:528 | +4.991 |
28
|
|
22
|
Wehrlein | Manor Marussia F1 | 1:20:868 | +5.331 |
25
|
In terms of times and for comparison, the absolute reference time for the pole position was set in 2011 by Vettel, back then in his Red Bull. Equipped with super-soft tires, the four-time world champion set a time of 1:13.556. Thus, even though it’s only Thursday morning, the reference time might be at risk.
Furthermore, the 22 drivers had to adapt to a new management of tear-offs: it is now prohibited to throw them on the track. They all must now wait to pass through the pit straight or find original tricks to keep them on board. Fernando Alonso has reportedly already found a strategy, prohibited for those under 18, according to his claims…
To be followed this afternoon during the second practice session of this sixth round of the season.
