Prac One: Kimi upsets McLaren in Monaco

Thursday 22nd May 2008

Kimi Raikkonen upset the form books by beating the McLarens to the P1 slot in the opening practice session for the Monaco GP.

Although Ferrari are the team to beat at present, the rules don't apply to Monaco, a circuit so vastly different to any other on the F1 calendar.

And therefore at this track it's McLaren who are expected to have the edge, although that didn't materialise in Thursday morning's first practice.

Toro Rosso drivers Seb Bourdais and Seb Vettel completed the first timed laps of the morning as the duo ran their new car, the STR3, during a grand prix weekend for the first time. Their lap times, though, were soon overhauled by Nico Rosberg, who went four seconds quicker in his Williams FW30.

Rosberg in turn lost out to Lewis Hamilton, who after a tentative start that included a lock up on the approach to the second part of the Swimming Pool complex that forced him to use the run-off area on the inside, took the P1 slot with a 1:17.593 using the harder tyre.

Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen slotted in behind the McLaren driver after also breaking into the 1:17s. Hamilton and Raikkonen both improved to the 1:16s as rubber layed down on the track helped drivers to get better grip.

David Coulthard's morning, though, soon came to an end as the Red Bull driver stopped out on the racetrack at the exit of the chicane.

Fernando Alonso, who was battling with oversteer, went P4 before losing it to Robert Kubica while Mark Webber, Heikki Kovalainen and Rosberg completed the top eight at the halfway mark.

53 minutes into the session it was red flagged but with all the cars returning to the pits safely it was soon apparent that the problem was with the circuit and not a crash.

A drain cover on the hill out of Ste Devote was causing problems for the drivers with FIA race director Charlie Whiting sent out to the rise to inspect the problem. A welder was called for to fix the problem with the session restarting after a 16-minute delay.

The drivers were quick to hit the track for the final 20 minutes with Kubica and Kovalainen both leapfrogging Massa.

Jarno Trulli's morning came to an end after the Toyota driver glanced the wall before going through the tunnel. However, with smoke coming from the side of his car the Italian opted to park in the escape road rather than continue.

Nick Heidfeld joined the list of parkers when he stopped his BMW behind the barrier in Casino Square with an apparent technical problem.

Hamilton improved his benchmark time to a 1:16.216 before being overhauled by Raikkonen, who clocked a 1:15.948 with the harder option tyres. Massa improved to third place while fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello leapt up the timesheets to seventh place.

Kovalainen overtook Massa with a 1:16.248 on the harder tyre while Rosberg improved to fifth place.

Times
01 K. R�ikk�nen Ferrari 1:15.948 26 laps
02 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:16.216 26 laps
03 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:16.248 27 laps
04 F. Massa Ferrari 1:16.292 25 laps
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.653 27 laps
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:16.653 27 laps
07 F. Alonso Renault 1:17.498 25 laps
08 R. Barrichello Honda 1:17.511 26 laps
09 M. Webber Red Bull 1:17.798 22 laps
10 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:17.883 26 laps
11 T. Glock Toyota 1:17.942 26 laps
12 J. Button Honda 1:18.153 25 laps
13 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:18.245 30 laps
14 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:18.263 13 laps
15 K. Nakajima Williams 1:18.274 28 laps
16 J. Trulli Toyota 1:18.360 16 laps
17 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:18.360 25 laps
18 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:18.955 32 laps
19 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:19.176 35 laps
20 D. Coulthard Red Bull no time 3 laps