After making its way up the Mediterranean coast from Barcelona to Monaco, the Marussia Virgin Racing team was on track again today in the streets of Monte Carlo only four days after racing in Spain. The two first Free Practice sessions got underway under very hot and sunny conditions, with the track temperature reaching 40°C.

At an always challenging street circuit, both Timo Glock and Jerome D'Ambrosio began their preparation for the race ahead in this morning's session. Timo completed 17 laps, while Jerome was one of the most productive drivers, completing 31.

In the afternoon both drivers were out on track early. The track conditions had improved, allowing them both to bring down their morning session times straight away. It was also a session to study the behaviour and degradation of both types of Pirelli P-Zero tyres. Timo completed 35 more laps in the afternoon, and Jerome added another 40 to his tally.

Jerome D'Ambrosio: "I think it was a fairly good day. It was my first time round Monaco in a Formula One car and it went pretty well. We got some good data from the long runs but it will be a bit strange not getting in the car tomorrow and instead have to wait until Saturday morning. Of course we still have to go through the data and work out where we can pick up some time, but for a first day, I'm quite happy."

Timo Glock: "Generally it's been a good day. We didn't have any problems on the car in either the first or the second practice session. We were running at a similar pace to the guys at the top when we were on soft tyres, so in general I think it all went well. It was a good Thursday."

John Booth, Team Principal: "First of all I'd like to say what a great job the team have done to get both cars ready in Monaco specification in the space of time we've had. There was a lot of work necessary at the front due to the changes in steering setup required for this circuit. The cars showed great reliability today so we could work through our full programme, maximising the track running with both cars. We split the two setup programmes, Jerome mainly focusing on set ups to help ride and Timo concentrating on optimising the mass distribution. From the results of these two programmes we will decide on the best setup to apply to both cars. As part of Timo's programme he ran Option tyres very early on, so I'm sure there's a bit more to come from him. Jerome did a great job again as a rookie round Monaco, which is by no means easy. Both cars completed long runs on the two types of tyre at the end. We seem to be seeing nearly double degradation on the Super Soft than the Soft. Overall we've got a huge amount of data but also an extra day to go through it all, which is how we will spend tomorrow."

To check out our Monaco practice gallery, click here.