Title leader sets the pace as 17-year-old debutant impresses again with second-fastest time; Nico Rosberg ninth while ERS problems lose Jenson Button time
Thursday 21 May 2015 16:27, UK
Lewis Hamilton set the pace in opening practice for the Monaco GP on Thursday morning, with Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg down in ninth.
Rosberg, who won last time out in Spain to pull back to within 20 points of Hamilton in the title race, is seeking a hat-trick on the streets of the Principality this weekend but made a slow start, relatively speaking.
The German clipped the barriers in the opening minutes of the session and ended up with a fastest lap over a second slower than Hamilton's best, a 1:18.750.
With Rosberg rejoining on a fresh set of soft tyres ahead of everyone else, the suspicion is that he therefore wasn't able to make use of them when the track conditions were at their best.
After overnight rain, the track was slightly damp at the outset. However, it soon dried and the session with busy enough with Hamilton leading the way with 49 laps.
Max Verstappen completed 42 but saved his best until last, a 1:18.899, that placed him 0.149s slower than the lead Mercedes - perhaps the most impressive display yet from the 17-year-old debutant.
The times ticked over rapidly in the closing minutes, with Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull emerging third fastest from Sebastian Vettel, who ran second to Hamilton for quite some time.
Vettel appeared to be giving it his all in his Ferrari and at one stage almost hit the barrier when he got out shape exiting Casino Square.
A number of drivers also took to the escape road at the first corner, Sainte Devote; Rosberg aside, however, no-one made contact with the barriers.
Carlos Sainz again joined Toro Rosso team-mate Verstappen in the top 10 - the Spaniard fifth fastest ahead of Pastor Maldonado's Lotus and Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull.
Kimi Raikkonen was eighth for Ferrari - the Finn complaining about tyre warm-up amongst other gripes - ahead of Rosberg, with Felipe Massa's Williams completing the top 10.
Further back, Fernando Alonso was 11th for McLaren right ahead of Jenson Button, who ran a truncated session after ERS problems kept him in the garage early on.
A gearbox change means that Romain Grosjean has already picked up a five-place grid penalty, with the Lotus driver ending up 13th ahead of Force India pair Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.
Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas could only manage 17th fastest, with the Williams driver sandwiched by Sauber pair Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson.
Manor Marussia drivers Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi were 19th and 20th respectively.
Practice One timesheet:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:18.750
2. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:18.899
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:19.086
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:19.134
5. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:19.245
6. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:19.454
7. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:19.520
8. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:19.679
9. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:19.762
10. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:19.766
11. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:19.791
12. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:20.202
13. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:20.274
14. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:20.619
15. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:20.784
16. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:20.857
17. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:20.917
18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:21.219
19. Will Stevens, Manor, 1:23.234
20. Roberto Merhi, Manor, 1:23.404
Don’t miss Sky Sports F1’s exclusively live coverage of the 2015 Monaco GP. The race begins at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up underway from 11.30am.
