25/05/2017
NEWS STORY
Other than the fact that the top ten were covered by exactly one second earlier, a number of other interesting factors emerged.
Whereas we normally don't see the softest compound until late in FP2, following a brief flurry of activity early on when all three compounds were tried, for much of the time it was the ultrasoft that was the tyre of choice for almost everyone.
We say 'almost' because Jenson Button - standing in for Fernando Alonso - spent much of the morning on softs before finally switching to ultras, while the Toro Rosso duo did most of its running on the supers and never got around to the purple-banded rubber.
Despite that however, the Faenza drivers were sixth (Kvyat) and ninth (Sainz) suggesting that they could spring a surprise.
Despite losing time after damaging his floor, Max Verstappen was on the pace, just behind Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, while the Force Indias continue to show strong form.
Only two drivers failed to post a time, Nico Hulkenberg, who had an energy store issue, and Marcus Ericsson whose problem was gearbox related.
And then there are the T-wings, while Renault and Force India have opted for triple-deckers, Red Bull, former critics of the devices, have now chosen to join the club.
The air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is 39 degrees. It remains bright and sunny.
The lights go green and Hulkenberg leads the way, followed by Ericsson, Magnussen and Grosjean.
Having completed just three laps apiece this morning, it is no surprise that Hulkenberg and Ericsson are keen to post times, however, of the first wave Grosjean is quickest (16.741). Shortly after, teammate Magnussen posts 14.796
As Raikkonen splits the Haas duo with a 14.839, Vandoorne goes quickest overall with a 14.642. However, the Belgian is on the ultrasofts whereas the others are on the red-banded supers.
AS Raikkonen goes second (14.734), Ocon clouts the barriers at the run down to Portier with the rear of his car. That will not have done the Force India any good.
Meanwhile, Kvyat - now on the ultras - has goes quickest with a 14.031. Shortly after, teammate Sainz, also on ultras, posts 13.926 only for Kvyat to post 13.758.
Palmer is told to stop his car, he subsequently does so, parking up at Portier. Replay shows engine smoke rising from the car moments earlier.
Bottas (supers) posts 20.827 as Verstappen complains of a "I'm getting massive boost on the downshift, which makes me lock-up," warns the Red Bull driver. "It's not right," he adds.
Quickest in all three sectors, Kvyat posts 13.331, as Verstappen, despite his issues, goes third with a 13.956.
Ericsson clouts the wall coming outside of Casino though the Sauber appears unscathed.
As Force India report no issues with Ocon's car, Verstappen splits the Toro Rossos with a 13.514.
"Tyres are not working that well, taking ages to get up to temperature," says Hamilton having just improves to fourth with a 14.419.
After 20 minutes all but Ricciardo and Vettel have posted times, though both are on track.
A 14.407 sees Bottas go fourth, demoting his teammate in the process.
Ricciardo's first flying lap sees the Australian go 20th (20.882), while Vettel posts 15.415 to go 15th. Ricciardo subsequently improves to 14.105 and Vettel 14.055. The German is on the supers and the Australian the ultras.
Having gone quickest in S1, Verstappen gets the Swimming Pool exit wrong and is force to abort the lap.
As Vettel goes third (13.573) and Ricciardo gives up on his pursuit of Kvyat's best, from out of nowhere Ricciardo produces a 13.280 to go quickest by 0.051.
Grosjean gets it wrong at Mirabeau, bringing out the yellows.
Perez goes sixth with a 13.799 as Button is asked if he wants to do another lap. "If we've got time, yeh," he replies.
Despite little offs here and there, Grosjean improves to ninth with a 14.056.
Sainz improves to third (13.400), as Bottas improves to eighth (13.904).
A 13.873 sees Hamilton improve from 14th to 8th, thereby displacing his teammate.
A 13.283 sees Raikkonen leapfrog the Toro Rossos to settle into second behind Ricciardo, just 0.003s off the Australian's pace.
In quick succession, Stroll , Sainz and Vettel get it wrong at the chicane, the German having a massive lock-up.
"I'm lacking general grip. Why?" asks Stroll.
A 12.759 sees Vettel go quickest, the German quickest in the final two sectors. Hamilton, in eighth, is 1.114s off the pace.
Forgive the pun, but Mercedes appears all at sea here.
Check out our Thursday gallery from Monaco, here.
Going quickest in the first two sectors now, Vettel ups the ante (slightly) with a 12.720.
For a brief moment the VSC is deployed and then the session is red flagged when Stroll crashes at Casino. The youngster is quickly out of his car, clearly unscathed, which is more that you can say about the Williams.
A couple of minutes later the session resumes leaving thirty minutes of running.
It's only fair to say that until his crash, Stroll had completed 27 laps - the most of all - having also completed the most in FP1. Furthermore, his best time was only 0.5s off his teammate's.
Hamilton tells his team that he is unhappy with the traffic. The team advises that it will look for a plan.
With 24 minutes remaining, race sims appears to be the order of the day. Interestingly, Raikkonen is the only runner on supers. At which point Wehrlein fits a set of the red-bander tyres.
A misunderstanding - we're being kind - almost sees Verstappen come to grief as he attempts to overtake Magnussen, the Dane opting to hold his line.
In all the excitement, we've lost track of the fact that the McLarens are currently 112th and 12th, not far short of the Mercedes duo which is 8th and 10th.
Button asks how to turn the DRS beeps off. "Press the button," comes the droll reply.
As Verstappen gives up on trying to pass Raikkonen, Button is told that he is not suffering any significant degradation.
Shortly after, Button, who is running behind Wehrlein, complains about driving standards.
It's only a practice session, but Button makes a late, bold move to pass Hamilton at the chicane.
Vettel is quickest, ahead of Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Kvyat, Sainz, Verstappen, Perez, Hamilton, Magnussen and Bottas.
Vandoorne is eleventh, ahead of Button, Massa, Grosjean, Ocon, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Palmer, Ericsson and Wehrlein.
Speaking at the end of the session, Toto Wolff admits that his team "went the wrong way" in terms of set-up between the sessions, and while Bottas appears to agree the Finn admits that he hopes the session wasn't the true picture.
A strange session then which sees Vette looking very strong, along with his teammate, and while the Red Bulls have also taken a step forward here, the Toro Rosso duo continues to impress.
Check out our Thursday gallery from Monaco, here.