Sam Bird tops Monaco Formula Renault 3.5 practice session

The Briton, who took pole position in the Principality in GP2 last year, had a couple of stints at the top of the times as the session went into its closing stages.

On both occasions ISR driver Bird deposed Alexander Rossi from top spot, and the Arden Caterham driver was unable to respond after he crashed at Casino Square towards the end of the session.

A late effort from Marco Sorenson dropped Rossi to third, and the American was far from the only driver to hit trouble as the field tried to make the most of its only track time before qualifying on Saturday morning.

Sorenson's Lotus team-mate Richie Stanaway kicked things off with an early crash after clattering the kerbs at the Swimming Pool, while Lucas Foresti caused the first red flag when he spun at Rascasse and caused a traffic jam.

At the same time his DAMS team-mate Arthur Pic went off at Sainte Devote. The Frenchman had managed to keep his car out of the barriers, but he could not prevent it from stalling as he tried to rejoin the track.

Ferrari junior driver Jules Bianchi was in the wars again when his car developed a small fire with 20 minutes to go, and the Tech 1 driver had to complete a whole lap with a smoking car as it started just as he passed the pit entrance.

Carlos Huertas and Giovanni Venturini also hit trouble in the closing stages, and the session concluded under a red flag with Bird on top.

Despite his crash Rossi ended up third behind Sorenson. Kevin Korjus was fourth for Tech 1, ahead of a trio of rookies in Kevin Magnussen (Carlin), Nico Muller (Draco), and championship leader Robin Frijns (Fortec).

Red Bull-backed Lewis Williamson's tough start to the season continued, as the Scot's track time was halted when his Arden car got stuck in gear.

Pos  Driver              Team        Time       Gap
 1.  Sam Bird            ISR         1m25.046s
 2.  Marco Sorensen      Lotus       1m25.243s  + 0.197s
 3.  Alexander Rossi     Arden       1m25.299s  + 0.253s
 4.  Kevin Korjus        Tech 1      1m25.601s  + 0.555s
 5.  Kevin Magnussen     Carlin      1m25.626s  + 0.580s
 6.  Nico Müller         Draco       1m26.099s  + 1.053s
 7.  Robin Frijns        Fortec      1m26.528s  + 1.482s
 8.  Andre Negrao        Draco       1m26.833s  + 1.787s
 9.  Daniil Move         P1          1m26.962s  + 1.916s
10.  Nick Yelloly        Comtec      1m27.003s  + 1.957s
11.  Zoel Amberg         Pons        1m27.086s  + 2.040s
12.  Mikhail Aleshin     RFR         1m27.231s  + 2.185s
13.  Lucas Foresti       DAMS        1m27.736s  + 2.690s
14.  Anton Nebylitskiy   RFR         1m27.844s  + 2.798s
15.  Walter Grubmuller   P1          1m28.177s  + 3.131s
16.  Vittorio Ghirelli   Comtec      1m28.447s  + 3.401s
17.  Will Stevens        Carlin      1m28.484s  + 3.438s
18.  Carlos Huertas      Fortec      1m28.494s  + 3.448s
19.  Nikolay Martsenko   BVM Target  1m28.813s  + 3.767s
20.  Jake Rosenzweig     ISR         1m28.856s  + 3.810s
21.  Giovanni Venturini  BVM Target  1m29.031s  + 3.985s
22.  Yann Cunha          Pons        1m29.272s  + 4.226s
23.  Jules Bianchi       Tech 1      1m29.407s  + 4.361s
24.  Lewis Williamson    Arden       1m30.416s  + 5.370s
25.  Arthur Pic          DAMS        1m40.412s  + 15.366s
26.  Richie Stanaway     Lotus       1m48.995s  + 23.949s