Monaco Practice 2: Alonso puts Ferrari on top

Fernando Alonso fastest in FP2

Fernando Alonso put Ferrari on top of the afternoon practice timesheets at the Monaco Grand Prix on Thursday but Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton was still fastest overall for Mercedes.
The Briton, who will be chasing his fifth win in a row on Sunday, lapped the Mediterranean street circuit with a best time of one minute 18.271 seconds on an overcast morning in the principality.
Alonso, who has not won a race in more than a year, then set the fastest lap of 1:18.482 in a damp afternoon session with Hamilton second in 1:18.901.
A heavy downpour between the sessions left the track soaked and slippery, with the top drivers leaving it late to set any meaningful times.
Nico Rosberg, winner from pole position last year, was a mere 0.032 slower than his Mercedes team mate in the morning but his times after lunch were unrepresentative and he was only 20th.

Lewis Hamilton second fastest

Daniel Ricciardo was best of the rest for champions Red Bull in third place in the morning and team mate Sebastian Vettel, the quadruple world champion, filled that slot in the afternoon.
Hamilton leads Rosberg by three points in the standings after four successive one-two finishes. Mercedes have won every race and started them all from pole.
Alonso, a past winner in Monaco with Renault and McLaren, had been boosted before the session by a statement from Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo assuring him of the team’s complete support.
Ferrari have been struggling to match the pace of the Mercedes this season and have not won in Monaco since Michael Schumacher in 2001.
The only casualty of the morning was German driver Adrian Sutil, who made contact with the barriers at Mirabeau. Marussia’s Max Chilton also stopped on the track.

Sebastian Vettel third fastest

Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson nudged the wall in the afternoon, without major damage to his Caterham.
The opening session was closely watched for signs of how the new cars, with their heavier V6 turbo hybrid power units, would handle the layout with more torque and less downforce.
Some drivers have warned that Monaco could be the toughest test of the season, with the cars slipping and sliding more around the tight corners on a track where any mistake can be costly.
Even if Mercedes still look quick, champions Red Bull and Ferrari have sensed a chance to break their dominant streak.
“Mercedes have been quite strong here over the last couple of years but it’s an opportunity,” Red Bull principal Christian Horner said before the session started. “We’ve got a bit of funny weather this weekend and we’ll do everything we can.”

Jean-Eric Vergne fourth fastest

The noise, or lack of it, was also much discussed with the new cars sounding far more muted even in the bowl-like surroundings of the harbour.
The loudspeakers blaring out live commentary around the track were far more deafening close up than anything coming from the muted V6 turbo hybrid power units that have replaced the screaming V8s. (Reuters)

Monaco Grand Prix, Free Practice 2 – Thursday, 22 May 2014

 

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:18.482
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:18.901	0.419
3	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:19.017	0.535
4	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	1:19.351	0.869
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:19.421	0.939
6	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1:19.668	1.186
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:19.712	1.230
8	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:19.721	1.239
9	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:19.779	1.297
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:20.230	1.748
11	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:20.394	1.912
12	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	1:20.622	2.140
13	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	1:20.811	2.329
14	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	1:20.977	2.495
15	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:21.467	2.985
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:21.700	3.218
17	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	1:21.924	3.442
18	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	1:21.937	3.455
19	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	1:22.683	4.201
20	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:22.862	4.380
21	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	1:23.164	4.682
22	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:45.509	27.027