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Monaco GP: Rosberg fastest again in second practice

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton proved that Mercedes' Formula 1 rivals are right to fear its Monaco pace as they went first and second in Thursday afternoon practice in Monte Carlo

Following his consecutive poles in Bahrain and Spain, and fastest time in practice one in Monaco, Rosberg continued his strong run by topping the second session on a 1m14.759s.

He set that lap less than half an hour into the session and it remained unbeaten for the rest of the afternoon, as teams instead focused on just how far they could push both the soft and super-soft tyre compounds.

Although there were plenty of radio comments about tyre overheating and wear, as well as the usual Monaco traffic complaints, the Pirelli situation did not seem desperate for any teams.

The gap between the two Mercedes at the front was 0.318 seconds.

Ferrari was Mercedes' main rival once again, with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa third and fourth.

Mark Webber put Red Bull into the top five this time, but his team-mate Sebastian Vettel's day remained quiet as he took ninth.

As is often the case on a practice day, Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus set ominously rapid long-run times that hinted at far more threatening race form that the headline pace suggested.

The Finn and his team-mate Romain Grosjean were sixth and seventh, despite the latter having the first crash of the F1 weekend when he slid into the Sainte Devote barriers on only his 11th lap.

Jenson Button was eighth for McLaren, followed by Vettel and the two Force Indias.


Pos Driver                Team                   Time       Gap     Laps
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m14.759s            45
 2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes               1m15.077s  + 0.318s  50
 3. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m15.196s  + 0.437s  37
 4. Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m15.278s  + 0.519s  38
 5. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m15.404s  + 0.645s  41
 6. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1m15.511s  + 0.752s  38
 7. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1m15.718s  + 0.959s  10
 8. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m15.959s  + 1.200s  39
 9. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m16.014s  + 1.255s  32
10. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m16.046s  + 1.287s  42
11. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m16.349s  + 1.590s  43
12. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes       1m16.434s  + 1.675s  40
13. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari         1m16.823s  + 2.064s  42
14. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1m16.857s  + 2.098s  40
15. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari         1m16.935s  + 2.176s  44
16. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m17.145s  + 2.386s  37
17. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m17.184s  + 2.425s  42
18. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault       1m17.264s  + 2.505s  46
19. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth      1m17.892s  + 3.133s  40
20. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault       1m18.212s  + 3.453s  43
21. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth      1m18.784s  + 4.025s  40
22. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault       1m19.031s  + 4.272s  30


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