Monaco GP: Vettel flies in FP2 as Mercedes struggles
Sebastian Vettel set the pace in second practice for the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix as Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas struggled.
Photo by: Sutton Images
Vettel clocked the fastest ever lap at Monaco with a 1m12.720s to finish 0.487 seconds clear of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.
Hamilton and Bottas could not replicate the pace shown in first practice and ended the session eighth and 10th respectively.
The duo started the session on supersofts, but failed to trouble the top of the timesheets when they bolted on the ultrasofts.
Practice was red-flagged with 36 minutes to go when Lance Stroll crashed at Casino Square.
The Williams driver, who was 16th fastest, lost the rear at the top of the hill before sliding into the barrier.
FP2 was a scrappier session, with Esteban Ocon hitting the barrier at the downhill right-hander before Portier.
Marcus Ericsson, who failed to complete a lap time in FP1 because of a gearbox problem, nudged the barrier at Casino Square, forcing him to pit.
It was the Toro Rossos that set the early pace, Daniil Kvyat using the ultrasoft for the first time on Thursday to clock a 1m14.031s.
Ricciardo then went quickest on the ultrasofts before Vettel usurped him with his first qualifying-simulation run.
Kimi Raikkonen ended up third fastest, just over half-a-second off the pace, with Kvyat just half a tenth further back.
The other Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz was fifth to underline the outfit's pace on the streets of Monte Carlo, ahead of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen and Bottas completed the top 10.
McLaren returnee Jenson Button had another solid session, the Briton clocking the 12th quickest time to finish just 0.035s adrift of teammate Stoffel Vandoorne.
It was more frustrating for Renault, with Nico Hulkenberg ended the session 17th quickest, having failed to set a time in FP1.
His teammate Jolyon Palmer pulled off track at Portier early in the session with smoke pouring from the rear of his Renault. He completed just eight laps.
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Laps | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 37 | 1'12.720 | |
2 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG | 34 | 1'13.207 | 0.487 |
3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 45 | 1'13.283 | 0.563 |
4 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | Renault | 40 | 1'13.331 | 0.611 |
5 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | Renault | 42 | 1'13.400 | 0.680 |
6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG | 35 | 1'13.486 | 0.766 |
7 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 44 | 1'13.799 | 1.079 |
8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 30 | 1'13.873 | 1.153 |
9 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | 45 | 1'13.890 | 1.170 |
10 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | 38 | 1'13.902 | 1.182 |
11 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | Honda | 41 | 1'13.946 | 1.226 |
12 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Honda | 36 | 1'13.981 | 1.261 |
13 | Felipe Massa | Williams | Mercedes | 45 | 1'14.003 | 1.283 |
14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 43 | 1'14.022 | 1.302 |
15 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | Mercedes | 46 | 1'14.093 | 1.373 |
16 | Lance Stroll | Williams | Mercedes | 27 | 1'14.474 | 1.754 |
17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | Renault | 40 | 1'14.870 | 2.150 |
18 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | Renault | 8 | 1'15.616 | 2.896 |
19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 31 | 1'15.691 | 2.971 |
20 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | Ferrari | 36 | 1'15.695 | 2.975 |
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments