2014 Monaco Grand Prix Thursday - Practice
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Vettel has finally left the bottom part of the timesheet, but he's still far from the top in eighth.
Alonso sets the best first sector of anyone so far, but the middle of his lap is less strong.
EDD STRAW: Really impressed with Vergne. He's very fast on entry down here at the Swimming Pool.
A promising lap from a Monaco (F1) rookie as Magnussen goes fourth for McLaren, just 0.06s off Alonso.
EDD STRAW: Alonso is mightily committed through the Swimming Pool and carrying good speed. Both Lotuses look strong through here as well.
Alonso now takes third for Ferrari, 1.458s away from Hamilton.
Raikkonen moves up to fourth for Ferrari, a tenth behind Ricciardo in the 'best of the rest' zone.
The gap from Hamilton's Mercedes in first to Ricciardo's Red Bull in third is 1.641s.
Maldonado pops up with his first fast lap of the morning, a 1m20.682s puts his Lotus into sixth.
EDD STRAW: Hamilton is mighty through the Swimming Pool as usual. He seems to have the car slightly more settled on entry than his team-mate.
Stopwatch
Now Hamilton beats Rosberg for the first time this morning with a 1m18.271s. That gives him first by 0.206s.
Fernando Alonso has spoken about his frustration by the lack of praise by those who are supposed to be his allies:
Alonso frustrated by lack of support from 'closest friends'
EDD STRAW: Rosberg was mega through Tabac on that lap. He's carrying lots of speed and sliding the car beautifully.
Stopwatch
Rosberg moves the goalposts with a 1m18.477s, nearly half a second clear of Hamilton.
Hamilton improves and is in second again, just 0.003s behind Rosberg.
EDD STRAW has relocated to the inside of Tabac. The inside wall has been removed here so it's now possible to watch from ground level.
You can stand near the apex and really see the cars sliding mid-corner. There's no margin for error.
You can stand near the apex and really see the cars sliding mid-corner. There's no margin for error.
Stopwatch
Now Rosberg does take first place back with a 1m18.970s, 0.942s faster than Ricciardo.
Only the two Mercedes out on track at the moment.
No, Rosberg won't, after a strong start, he backed right off in the final sector and stays second.
Rosberg might take top spot back from Ricciardo with this lap.
Half an hour gone, here's the order as Rosberg comes back out:
1 Ricciardo
2 Rosberg
3 Alonso
4 Hamilton
5 Perez
6 Button
7 Hulkenberg
8 Magnussen
9 Massa
10 Raikkonen
11 Bottas
12 Bianchi
13 Sutil
14 Gutierrez
15 Grosjean
16 Maldonado
17 Vergne
18 Vettel
19 Ericsson
20 Kobayashi
21 Kvyat
22 Chilton
1 Ricciardo
2 Rosberg
3 Alonso
4 Hamilton
5 Perez
6 Button
7 Hulkenberg
8 Magnussen
9 Massa
10 Raikkonen
11 Bottas
12 Bianchi
13 Sutil
14 Gutierrez
15 Grosjean
16 Maldonado
17 Vergne
18 Vettel
19 Ericsson
20 Kobayashi
21 Kvyat
22 Chilton
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Marussia confirms that's it for Chilton in first practice.
"Problem for Max, whose car is now stranded on track. That's his session over rather too prematurely."
"Problem for Max, whose car is now stranded on track. That's his session over rather too prematurely."
The yellow flags are now gone, but Chilton seems to have failed to get his Marussia going again.
EDD STRAW: Success rate of Saubers at making the chicane without a massive panic is poor. The car looks like a real handful.
Yellow flags on track as Chilton spins at Mirabeau.
Force India remains well-placed: Perez is fifth and Hulkenberg seventh, split by Button's McLaren.
Fernando Alonso gets Ferrari up to third, splitting Rosberg and Hamilton.
EDD STRAW: Both the Mercedes drivers look superb in different ways. Rosberg is smoother, keeping everything under control, carrying good speed and controlling the wheelspin.
Hamilton is more aggressive, really leaning on the car on the brakes and carrying speed on the turn-in. He then catches the rear beautifully as it steps out on the direction change.
Hamilton is more aggressive, really leaning on the car on the brakes and carrying speed on the turn-in. He then catches the rear beautifully as it steps out on the direction change.
Ferrari has also modified its monkey seat for this race, but the Mercedes one looks significantly bigger.
That lap from Ricciardo puts him 0.182s ahead of Rosberg.
Mercedes is sporting a new, much bigger monkey seat than usual in the rear wing.
Stopwatch
That big gap doesn't last - Ricciardo closes to within a second of the Mercs, then on the next lap takes first place with a 1m19.912s.
'The rest' are led by Ricciardo's Red Bull, Button's McLaren, and Force Indias of Perez and Hulkenberg.
Now it's getting closer at the top, as Hamilton closes the gap to Rosberg to 0.228s. The Mercedes are 2.3s clear of the rest.
Ricciardo's onboard camera shows how busy drivers are thanks to the combination of new cars/new track surface. It looks very tricky out there.
Hamilton closes in on Rosberg in second place, but he's still 1.081s down.
Ricciardo is the latest to entertain EDD STRAW at the chicane by cutting the corner. It's a tricky downhill braking area with a few bumps, so it's easy to misjudge.
EDD STRAW: A bit of a moment between Hamilton and a Toro Rosso. The Mercedes locked up into the chicane while trying to get past, and had to do it on the way to Tabac instead.
We've now had times from 14 cars, but to underline how little most drivers are pushing yet, Rosberg is fastest by 3.241 seconds at the moment.
EDD STRAW: The mass chicane cutting has begun, Perez and Grosjean's turn now. Perez was nowhere near stopping.
By: Matt Beer, Ben Anderson, Pablo Elizalde, Edd Straw, Charles Bradley, Jonathan Noble
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