FP1: Ultra Mercedes dominate

As Thursday’s FP1 concluded, Lewis Hamilton dominated the session on his Ultra Soft compound tyres, with his teammate Nico Rosberg following closely behind him.

Throughout the entire opening practice session for the Monaco GP, Rosberg and Hamilton traded that P1 spot but the Brit held on firmly to put an unbeatable time of 1:15.537.

Rosberg, who is also the Championship leader, suffered a left rear puncture and had to nurse his Silver Arrow back to his garage.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third quickest ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who was running Renault’s upgraded engine, and his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.

While the Ultra compound dominated the talk of the first practice session, in typical Monte Carlo style, there was plenty of drama at the Circuit de Monaco.

Williams driver Felipe Massa continued his bad luck of slamming into the barrier at Turn 1 with his front left wheel taking most of the hit. His practice was ultimately cut short.

Toro Rosso duo Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat also caused scares during the session with both of them causing yellow flags to wave after locking up a few time on the track.

There was an engine issue for Haas’ Esteban Gutierrez while Rosberg’s late puncture resulted in an issue for McLaren driver Jenson Button.

He went through the same turn shortly after the Mercedes driver and apparently hit a loose drain cover, causing the session to be red flagged with 4 minutes left on the clock.

Adding to Button’s disappointment, himself and his teammate Fernando Alonso couldn’t get the pace they wanted with the Ultra soft compound, which is a worry if they are to mount any serious challenge during the qualifying sessions.

Times
1 Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes 1:15.537 31 laps
2 Nico Rosberg  Mercedes 1:15.638 0.101 39 laps
3 Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari 1:15.956 0.419 26 laps
4 Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing 1:16.308 0.771 29 laps
5 Max Verstappen  Red Bull Racing 1:16.371 0.834 30 laps
6 Daniil Kvyat  Toro Rosso 1:16.426 0.889 37 laps
7 Nico Hulkenberg  Force India 1:16.560 1.023 34 laps
8 Sergio Perez  Force India 1:16.697 1.160 28 laps
9 Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari 1:16.912 1.375 24 laps
10 Carlos Sainz Jr.  Toro Rosso 1:17.130 1.593 39 laps
11 Valtteri Bottas  Williams 1:17.562 2.025 44 laps
12 Romain Grosjean  Haas F1 Team 1:17.599 2.062 33 laps
13 Fernando Alonso  McLaren 1:17.838 2.301 27 laps
14 Esteban Gutierrez  Haas F1 Team 1:17.909 2.372 25 laps
15 Jenson Button  McLaren 1:17.920 2.383 26 laps
16 Felipe Nasr  Sauber  1:18.187 2.650 29 laps
17 Kevin Magnussen  Renault F1 Team 1:18.274 2.737 34 laps
18 Marcus Ericsson  Sauber 1:18.301 2.764 33 laps
19 Felipe Massa  Williams 1:18.746 3.209 10 laps
20 Jolyon Palmer  Renault F1 Team 1:18.871 3.334 22 laps
21 Rio Haryanto  Manor Racing 1:20.528 4.991 28 laps
22 Pascal Wehrlein  Manor Racing 1:20.868 5.331 25 laps