Double whammy for Jag drivers

Pedro de la Rosa's incident occurred in the first session, after the Spaniard ran wide and hit the barrier on the exit of the swimming pool.

"I made a mistake coming out of the chicane," he admitted, "and in Monaco you don't get away with mistakes. The mechanics did a good job of fixing the car so that I could come back out for the afternoon session."

Team-mate Eddie Irvine's accident in the second session was not of his own making - he was unfortunate to be the first driver on the scene after the Cosworth engine in Enrique Bernoldi's Arrows let go. The greasy surface sent Irvine spinning into the barriers, damaging the rear and left side of the car.

"Oil on the track sent me into the armco barriers at Massanet," he said. "Monaco is unforgiving and I was happy to come away unscathed."

Irvine ended the day back in an unfamiliar 20th at a track where he usually shines, while de la Rosa improved to 18th midway through the afternoon session, almost three seconds off Jarno Trulli's best time.