Up and down start for Monaco rookies

Formula 1's rookies encountered differing fortunes on the opening day of practice for the Monaco Grand Prix

Toyota's Allan McNish finished the two one-hour sessions in a brilliant second overall, but fellow F1 newcomers Felipe Massa (Sauber) and Alex Yoong (Minardi) took an early bath after crashing out.

"I had a spin going into the chicane and was very lucky not to hit anything," said Massa. "I was on what would have been my fastest lap when I made a little mistake in Tabac and the car started to slide. I hit the wall on the outside with the rear wheel, and then the front hit too and that was it for the day."

After his horrifying shunt in Austria, Takuma Sato had a careful day in his Jordan, setting the 17th fastest time but losing track time at the end due to a suspension problem.

"Unfortunately I lost the last 15 minutes of running," said Sato. "Generally, it was a good day as I learned the circuit and found good balance with the EJ12."

McNish, however, had the most reason to be happy: "I have only ever driven Monaco in a Lexus before now and I think we did a good job today."

Mark Webber won last year's Formula 3000 race at Monaco and enjoyed his first laps in an F1 car there too, setting the eighth fastest time in his Minardi-Asiatech.