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Formula 1
Monaco GP
2014 Monaco Grand Prix Thursday - Practice
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A further improvement for Hulkenberg despite a scare at Sainte Devote. The Force India driver's new benchmark is 1m22.047s.
Perez has a noisy, squeaky lock-up into Sainte Devote but keeps the Force India clear of the wall.
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Now Hulkenberg takes P1 with a 1m22.699s.
Chilton is reporting some difficulties with the Marussia's clutch.
Hulkenberg jumps up to second with the super-softs, some three tenths of a second off Vergne's best.
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Vergne goes quickest with a 1m26.002s. Clearly it's time for slicks.
Mercedes is poised to take slicks too.
Indications are that it was a gearbox problem that has sidelined Raikkonen at the end of this session.
He managed four laps before that struck and is last among the nine drivers that have set a time.
He managed four laps before that struck and is last among the nine drivers that have set a time.
Purple S1 and S2 for Vergne. Expect an avalanche of cars leaving the pits soon.
The answer is yes: the Toro Rossos are out on dry tyres.
EDD STRAW: "Vergne has apparently gone out on softs, with Hulkenberg taking the super-softs. Interesting to see what times can be done on slicks."
We enter the final 10 minutes of the session. Will anyone go out on slicks?
Mercedes gives Rosberg a reminder to put more heat into his front brakes.
No lap times for the Mercedes duo yet. Or for the other 11 drivers who have not completed a timed lap yet.
Mercedes asks Hamilton to check for wet patches and give a hint of how long it will be before slick time.
The Mercedes practice pitstop didn't follow the plan, with no change to slicks after all. Presumably Hamilton felt it was still too damp.
Rosberg has also left his garage, as Hamilton completes his lap and returns to the pits.
And indeed, Hamilton is out on track.
Mercedes tells Hamilton the plan is a quick outing on the intermediates, into the pits for a practice stop during which the option tyre will go on, a few laps on that, then primes.
The Dane has jumped to second behind his McLaren team-mate. Hamilton is about to leave the pits, according to the radio messages from his engineer.
Magnussen gets it slightly wrong in the Swimming Pool complex and bumps over the run-off.
Button completes his run and returns to the pits. Bottas, Magnussen and Sutil out on track now.
BEN ANDERSON: "Woah! I've never stood so close to F1 cars in motion. Could feel the vibration as Vettel aimed the Red Bull right at me and booted the throttle through Tabac."
No sign of slick tyres yet with some 21 minutes to go.
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Three purple sectors for Button, who improves to a 1m31.594s.
Button leaves the pits, but still using intermediate tyres.
The action has now slowed down once more: no cars on track.
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Ferrari has confirmed that whatever Raikkonen's problem is will keep him in the pits for the rest of the session, so his Thursday is over.
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Jules Bianchi reckons it's too wet for slicks still: "In the middle, it's still too wet for dries. It's not good for these tyres, but it's still too much."
We enter the final half hour of the session, and still no sign of the Mercedes drivers.
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Button sets a new benchmark in the McLaren: 1m32.423s.
Only nine drivers have set a time, all of them using the intermediate tyres.
Slight incident in the Red Bull garage as one of the crew pushing Ricciardo's car back in gets clipped by the left front wheel and falls. He gets up unhurt and resumes work.
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As the track continues to dry up, the times continues to tumble. A 1m32.588s for Vettel, now followed by Alonso and Magnussen.
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Now it's Vettel who goes quickest. A 1m33.780s for the Red Bull driver.
Raikkonen has made it back to the garage as Ferrari starts to investigate the problem.
EDD STRAW: "All those on track are using intermediates at the moment."
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Meanwhile, Magnussen jumps to the top with a 1m35.805s.
Raikkonen is completing a very slow lap to return to the pits. He has a problem of some sort.
By: Matt Beer, Ben Anderson, Pablo Elizalde, Edd Straw, Charles Bradley, Jonathan Noble
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