Lewis Hamilton was fastest around the streets of Monaco in the first practice session of the weekend.
The Mercedes driver ended the session 0.196s faster than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Vettel was top of the times early in the session, but was knocked down the order as drivers improved. Both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas went faster than Vettel, but the German managed to split the two Mercedes drivers before the end of the session.
Bottas looked set to finish the session third fastest, only for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to go faster in the closing stages of the session.
The teenager enjoyed an interesting practice. Verstappen came very close to the wall in the first 20 minutes of the session and he bailed out of his flying lap. The incident caused damage to the floor of his Red Bull and a puncture, forcing him to spend a large portion of his morning in the garage. He managed to get back out late in the 90 minute session, jumping up to P3, ahead of Bottas.
Verstappen’s team mate Daniel Ricciardo took fifth fastest, followed by Daniil Kvyat.
Both Toro Rosso drivers enjoyed a strong session. Carlos Sainz jumped up to third fastest on the super soft tyres, followed quickly by Kvyat. Though the pair were knocked down the order as drivers strapped on ultra soft tyres, it’s a positive sign from the team that was battling with Sauber in Barcelona.
Sainz finished the day ninth. He was the first driver to fall foul of the new, improved “ramp” kerb, flying over it late in the session, though he avoided hitting the wall.
Kimi Raikkonen took seventh fastest. The Ferrari driver brushed the wall early in the session, but managed to continue. He challenged team mate Vettel at the top of the times early on, only to tumble down the order as those around him found improvements.
Sergio Perez took eighth fastest, with team mate Esteban Ocon rounding off the top 10.
Jenson Button took 14th fastest in his F1 return, slower than Stoffel Vandoorne, who finished 12th.
Nico Hulkenberg and Marcus Ericsson were the only drivers to not set times. A gearbox problem in the Sauber garage stopped Ericsson from heading out. Hulkenberg managed three laps over the course of the practice, an energy store issue cutting his morning short.
