Alonso heading for new Win !!!
Fernando Alonso was fastest in first practice for the Monaco Grand Prix as the Ferrari driver ended the opening 90-minute session more than 0.3s faster than the Lotus of Romain Grosjean, followed by Sergio Perez. But the session was red flagged with eight minutes remaining after Heikki Kovalainen's Renault engine gave out in a plume of smoke in the tunnel, leaving a trail of oil on the racing line.Lewis Hamilton was fourth quickest at the end of the session with Pastor Maldonado fifth as two of the favourites for the weekend showed early promise. The top five were separated by just half a second, but with drivers finding more and more time as their confidence grows there could have been further challenges to Alonso's time but for the early stoppage. As soon as the clock had ticked over to 10am local time, cars flooded out onto a famous Monaco circuit bathed in sunshine, with only Jenson Button remaining in the pits. He finally ventured out 15 minutes into the session but complained of a lack of visibility as his team experimented with a new cockpit position in evaluating a higher chassis for next season.
McLaren also opted to run a new front wing end plate, using a sensor to test loading on the front of the chassis. With the track temperature reaching 28 degrees, Jean-Eric Vergne was the first driver to dial in competitive lap times, pushing hard enough to just avoid hitting the barrier on the final corner. As the big hitters began to get a feel for the circuit, so Vergne's spell at the top ended, first Romain Grosjean then Michael Schumacher bettering the mark. Grosjean was strong throughout the session, but the same could not be said for his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen who failed to set a time after reporting problems with his steering after his installation lap.
While Alonso looked settled and controlled throughout each of his 22 laps, Felipe Massa was less so. Despite being quick and setting the sixth fastest time, Massa appeared to be slightly ragged and fighting the Ferrari much more than his team-mate. The session saw its share of incident, Narain Karthikeyan out braking himself and disappearing down the escape road at Mirabeau, Mark Webber cutting the Nouvelle Chicane and Massa inexplicably kissing the armco approaching Tabac. Schumacher was also forced to return to the pit after a fault in his front wing saw it dragging along the circuit.
FIRST FREE PRACTICE
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:16.265 22
2. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:16.630 + 0.365 17
3. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:16.711 + 0.446 19
4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.747 + 0.482 12
5. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:16.760 + 0.495 20
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:16.843 + 0.578 19
7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.038 + 0.773 21
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.190 + 0.925 13
9. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:17.222 + 0.957 14
10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.261 + 0.996 18
11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:17.413 + 1.148 14
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:17.631 + 1.366 18
13. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:18.106 + 1.841 14
14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:18.209 + 1.944 25
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:18.252 + 1.987 28
16. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:18.302 + 2.037 16
17. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:18.617 + 2.352 20
18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:19.039 + 2.774 20
19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:19.341 + 3.076 16
20. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:20.838 + 4.573 26
21. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:20.895 + 4.630 18
22. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:21.638 + 5.373 9
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:22.423 + 6.158 15
24. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1
Button with fastest time in Monte Carlo!!!
Jenson Button made the most of a short spell of dry running to finish fastest after Thursday's rain interrupted second session of free practice.
Button, who won the race in 2009, posted a quickest time of 1:15.746 on the supersoft compound tyre, just before rain fell on the Monaco circuit. It meant that there was no chance of anyone else bettering his time, the McLaren ending the session ahead of Romain Grosjean's Lotus and the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.
Spanish Grand Prix winner Pastor Maldonado was fifth fastest but other leading contenders Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were 10th and 11th respectively as the weather played a big part. SECOND FREE PRACTICE
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.746 14
2. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:16.138 + 0.392 17
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:16.602 + 0.856 19
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:16.661 + 0.915 21
5. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:16.820 + 1.074 18
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.021 + 1.275 13
7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:17.148 + 1.402 21
8. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.153 + 1.407 20
9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:17.293 + 1.547 9
10. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:17.303 + 1.557 19
11. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.375 + 1.629 17
12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:17.395 + 1.649 19
13. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:17.655 + 1.909 18
14. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:17.800 + 2.054 23
15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.251 + 2.505 22
16. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:18.440 + 2.694 23
17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:18.522 + 2.776 20
18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:18.808 + 3.062 24
19. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1:19.267 + 3.521 23
20. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:19.309 + 3.563 27
21. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:20.029 + 4.283 13
22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:20.240 + 4.494 19
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:20.631 + 4.885 12
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:20.886 + 5.140 10
