Fernando Alonso kick-started his Monaco Grand Prix weekend by topping the timesheets
during the first practice session on Thursday.
Alonso set his lap with 15 minutes to go, relegating Lotus driver Romain Grosjean – who lead most of the session – to 2nd place.
Sergio Perez made a positive comeback, after last year’s horrific crash, to clock the 3rd fastest time,
0.013s up on 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is yet to win a race this season.
Spanish Grand Prix winner Pastor Maldonado was 5th quickest, continuing his team’s strong form, followed by Felipe Massa’s Ferrari.
Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi crossed the line in 7th, with Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg going 8th, 9th and 10th respectively.
Oil resultant from Heikki Kovalainen’s engine failure through the tunnel forced the session to stop with 10 minutes to go.
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m16.265s 2. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m16.630s + 0.365 3. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m16.711s + 0.446 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m16.747s + 0.482 5. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m16.760s + 0.495 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m16.843s + 0.578 7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.038s + 0.773 8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m17.190s + 0.925 9. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m17.222s + 0.957 10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m17.261s + 0.996 11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m17.413s + 1.148 12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m17.631s + 1.366 13. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m18.106s + 1.841 14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m18.209s + 1.944 15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m18.252s + 1.987 16. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m18.302s + 2.037 17. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m18.617s + 2.352 18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m19.039s + 2.774 19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m19.341s + 3.076 20. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m20.838s + 4.573 21. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m20.895s + 4.630 22. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m21.638s + 5.373 23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m22.423s + 6.158 24. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault No time
McLaren driver Jenson Button lead the the way in FP2, setting a time of 1:15.746, 4 tenths clear of an impressive Romain Grosjean in the Lotus E20.
The teams opted to run early in the session due to threat of rain after.
Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were 3rd and 4th, ahead of Pastor Maldonado who stayed in 5th.
The rain soon fell, killing any chances of a dry run for the teams. Despite the wet conditions, all drivers managed to avoid the barriers, with a few going down escape roads.
1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.746s 2. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m16.138s + 0.392 3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m16.602s + 0.856 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m16.661s + 0.915 5. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m16.820s + 1.074 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m17.021s + 1.275 7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m17.148s + 1.402 8. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.153s + 1.407 9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m17.293s + 1.547 10. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m17.303s + 1.557 11. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m17.375s + 1.629 12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m17.395s + 1.649 13. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m17.655s + 1.909 14. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m17.800s + 2.054 15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m18.251s + 2.505 16. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m18.440s + 2.694 17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m18.522s + 2.776 18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m18.808s + 3.062 19. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m19.267s + 3.521 20. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m19.309s + 3.563 21. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m20.029s + 4.283 22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m20.240s + 4.494 23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m20.631s + 4.885 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m20.886s + 5.140