Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari set the pace in Thursday practice for the Monaco Grand Prix. That was no great surprise for a car/driver combination that has won two of the first five races of the 2017 Formula 1 season. But behind Vettel, almost half a second behind him in fact, the order was highly unusual by F1 standards.
Red Bull was unexpectedly second fastest; the Toro Rosso drivers were an even more remarkable fourth and fifth - and ahead of the second Red Bull; and Sergio Perez's customer-powered Force India was quicker than both works Mercedes drivers, who were also split by Kevin Magnussen's Haas - a lower points contender at best ordinarily.
We are told Monte Carlo should be beleaguered McLaren-Honda's best chance yet to shine, on a tight and twisty circuit that should maximise the strengths of its updated chassis and minimise the weaknesses of its troublesome Honda engine, yet neither of its drivers troubled the top 10 on Thursday.