Lewis Hamilton led the first practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix but a shock lap from Max Verstappen at the end of the session saw the Toro Rosso driver claim second place.
Verstappen, who is competing at Monaco for the first time this weekend, produced a lap of 1’18.899 to end the session within two-tenths of a second of Hamilton. Team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr underline Toro Rosso’s potential with fifth place.
Hamilton traded fastest times with Nico Rosberg in the middle of the session but ended up over a second clear of his Mercedes team mate. The winner of the last two races in Monaco finished the session ninth.
Rosberg had a moment early in the session when he clipped the barrier at the exit of the reprofiled Tabac corner, but avoided inflicting any serious damage on his car. Practice began on a slightly damp track and drivers opted for intermediate tyres for their installation laps before switching to slick rubber.
Sebastian Vettel also had a drama at Casino bend, the Ferrari slewing close to the barrier at the exit. He was bumped down to four that the end of the session by Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who took fourth for Red Bull.
All four Renault-powered cars appeared in the top seven, the last of which was Daniil Kvyat, who complained about being held up by traffic. Pastor Maldonado took a strong sixth for Lotus.
The McLaren pair ended the session just outside the top ten, Fernando Alonso ahead of Jenson Button, the latter missing much of the first half of the session due to a technical problem.
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’18.750 | 49 | |
2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’18.899 | 0.149 | 42 |
3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’19.086 | 0.336 | 27 |
4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’19.134 | 0.384 | 31 |
5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’19.245 | 0.495 | 40 |
6 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’19.454 | 0.704 | 35 |
7 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’19.520 | 0.770 | 33 |
8 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’19.679 | 0.929 | 31 |
9 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’19.762 | 1.012 | 47 |
10 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’19.766 | 1.016 | 32 |
11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’19.791 | 1.041 | 28 |
12 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’20.202 | 1.452 | 15 |
13 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’20.274 | 1.524 | 34 |
14 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’20.649 | 1.899 | 35 |
15 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’20.784 | 2.034 | 34 |
16 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’20.857 | 2.107 | 24 |
17 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’20.917 | 2.167 | 36 |
18 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’21.219 | 2.469 | 25 |
19 | 28 | Will Stevens | Manor-Ferrari | 1’23.234 | 4.484 | 28 |
20 | 98 | Roberto Merhi | Manor-Ferrari | 1’23.404 | 4.654 | 31 |
First practice visual gaps
Lewis Hamilton – 1’18.750
+0.149 Max Verstappen – 1’18.899
+0.336 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’19.086
+0.384 Sebastian Vettel – 1’19.134
+0.495 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’19.245
+0.704 Pastor Maldonado – 1’19.454
+0.770 Daniil Kvyat – 1’19.520
+0.929 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’19.679
+1.012 Nico Rosberg – 1’19.762
+1.016 Felipe Massa – 1’19.766
+1.041 Fernando Alonso – 1’19.791
+1.524 Romain Grosjean – 1’20.274
+1.899 Sergio Perez – 1’20.649
+2.034 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’20.784
+2.107 Felipe Nasr – 1’20.857
+2.167 Valtteri Bottas – 1’20.917
+2.469 Marcus Ericsson – 1’21.219
+4.484 Will Stevens – 1’23.234
+4.654 Roberto Merhi – 1’23.404
2015 Monaco Grand Prix
- Verstappen rebuffs Massa criticism over Monaco crash
- Hamilton “couldn’t care less” about Monaco
- ‘Moral victor’ Hamilton wins Driver of the Weekend
- Hamilton’s strategy splits opinion on the Monaco GP
- 2015 Monaco Grand Prix team radio transcript
Sri Harsha (@harsha)
21st May 2015, 10:41
Last Year FP1 fastest time is also set by Lewis which is a 1:18.271 seems lot of cooler temps today than a year ago
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
21st May 2015, 10:45
Impressive stuff from Verstappen! Underlines his driving style, which is similarly agressive to Senna’s.
JS (@js)
21st May 2015, 11:48
Yes, excellent lap. However, it seems to me that the 2nd place should be tempered by the fact that the track gained 2/3 degrees at the end of the session, the other drivers were caught in traffic so could not take advantage of this… Let’s see what happens this afternoon! :)
petebaldwin (@)
21st May 2015, 16:54
They tried something in Spain which allowed them to qualify well but they were left defenceless in the race. It’d be interesting to see if they do something similar this weekend considering they’ll have much more scope to defend the position. Could be a bit of a disaster if you qualify just behind one of them….
Duc Pham (@ducpham2708)
21st May 2015, 10:45
The Bulls’ resurgent?
But seeing Kimi in 7th and Rosberg in 8th shows that teams didn’t push hard this session. Looking forward to FP2.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
21st May 2015, 10:48
With a drying track, FP1 is probably a bit misleading. Still, the Red Bulls and Toro Rossos are IMPRESSIVE.
hahostolze
21st May 2015, 11:35
It was entirely dry from about ten minutes in…
sato113 (@sato113)
21st May 2015, 10:52
How do I navigate to the weather article for each go without scrolling back through loads of articles?
maarten.f1 (@)
21st May 2015, 12:49
@sato113 At the top there’s a Monaco GP menu item, one of the sub menu items is for the weather article.
Todfod (@todfod)
21st May 2015, 11:01
Impressive lap from Max. For a driver that has never driven here before, he dialled in quick laps with ease.
I don’t think Rosberg was pushing at all this session and nor was Bottas or Kimi.
Impressive laps from Fernando as well. This could be Mclaren’s points breakthrough weekend
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
21st May 2015, 12:20
I had hoped the McLarens would be somewhat higher in the rankings. A bit of a disappointing first practice, let’s hope for better in the next one.
Sellittous (@sellittous)
21st May 2015, 12:40
I don’t think any one can break the Hamilton’s record in this year. I always support Hamilton in any Grand Pix.
MarkM
21st May 2015, 12:52
wasn’t it Senna at the time when he was driving for a B rated team shined at Monaco and lit up his career with a astounding performance. Seems to be going that way for Max as well…
Supremacy (@supremacy)
21st May 2015, 13:31
Max is currently being dominated by his Team Mate.
Not sure how Senna esque that is….
Dirk
21st May 2015, 13:37
Dominated by his teammate? Please explain how, because to me they really look quite similar at the moment. And that is while I am taking away his age and lack of experience.
The lack of experience that people where using as an argument that he did not deserve his seat in f1 yet, is usually missed when laying claim that his teammate is so much better at the moment. Let me guess, you are one of those people?
Patrickl (@patrickl)
21st May 2015, 14:13
Max is being let down by his car more. Twice he would have finished ahead of Sainz, but then his car stopped. Even in the race that Verstappen did finish he had major technical difficulties.
Tony Hamilton (@tonybananas)
21st May 2015, 13:34
It’s FP1….. let’s not pop our corks over a hollywood FP lap
SauberS1 (@saubers1)
21st May 2015, 22:31
Kimi’s gap is very large again…