Practice 1 Report - Home Start

Lewis Hamilton lives in Monaco, so he didn't have far to travel to get his practice for the Monaco Grand Prix underway. He set the fastest time early in Free Practice 1, and improved on that time to hold onto the number one slot at the end of FP1.

Max Verstappen did an amazing job to take second place in his Toro Rosso.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault - Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault - Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes - Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari - Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi. Sauber - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 61 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Centigrade.)

Ericsson was the first out.

Parts of the 2.075-mile (3.340-km) 19-turn track were still wet as it had rained earlier in the morning, so the drivers used Pirelli's intermediate rain tire for their recon laps.

5 minutes into the session, Hamilton clocked a 1:27.842. Rosberg, taking it easy, was 5.3 seconds slower.

11 minutes into the session, Hamilton headed out on the soft compound Pirelli slicks with the yellow sidewalls. He turned a lap in 1:23.992 and then lowered that to a 1:22.103.

15 minutes into the session, Ericsson became the third driver to set a time with his 1:33.180.

18 minutes into the session, Ricciardo moved into second with a 1:23.789. He improved that to a 1:23.049.

25 minutes into the session, Raikkonen took over second place with a 1:22.283. But now Hamilton had posted a 1:21.622.

30 minutes into the session, the top 10 were: Hamilton, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Maldonado, Sainz, Perez, Grosjean, Verstappen and Hulkenberg.

33 minutes into the session, Rosberg jumped up to third with a time of 1:22.449.

39 minutes into the session, Rosberg grabbed first place with a 1:19.762. Hamilton did a 1:19.764. The rest of the drivers were three, four or more seconds adrift.

Midway through FP1 the top six were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Maldonado, Sainz, Perez, Grosjean and Verstappen.

With 44 minutes remaining in the session, Verstappen clocked a 1:21.715, which put him third, and then Sainz grabbed fourth place.

With 37 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton set a 1:18.759.

With 35 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel slotted into second place with a 1:19.382.

At the one hour mark the top six were: Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Kvyat and Perez.

Vettel had now gone even faster with a time of 1:19.134, but he was still one-third of a second slower than Hamilton.

With 20 minutes remaining in the session, Alonso got the McLaren into sixth place, while Massa was now fifth.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, every driver but Alonso was on track.

With 6 minutes remaining in the session, Verstappen went third with a 1:19.325.

With 4 minutes remaining in the session, Ricciardo took third with a 1:19.325 and then a 1:19.311.

With 1 minute remaining in the session, Ricciardo claimed second place with a 1:19.086. But Verstappen beat that with a 1:18.899.

The top 10 at the end of FP1 were: Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Sainz, Maldonado, Kvyat, Raikkonen, Rosberg and Massa.