FP1: Alonso ahead of Grosjean in Monaco

The honorary battle for first place will have animated the first free practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix where the sun was shining. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1 Team) has constantly occupied the forefront, but it is ultimately the Ferrari F2012 of Fernando Alonso who took the best time (1'16"265) with a comfortable lead of 0"365 over the Frenchman. Kimi Räikkönen did not have the same chance to shine as his teammate since he only completed his installation lap before returning to the pits for his team to change its steering column, making him unavailable for the remainder of the session. Sauber seems in good shape as Sergio Perez places himself in third position, four rows ahead of his teammate Kamui Kobayashi. The Mexican, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams) are all three to four tenths of the best time.

Felipe Massa (Ferrari) posted a positive performance with the sixth fastest time of the session. Jenson Button (McLaren) only completed 13 laps this morning and was content with eighth time just ahead Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), who only completed one more lap. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) completes the top ten by being the last driver in the same second as Fernando Alonso. His teammate Michael Schumacher, very effective in the streets of Monaco, is nevertheless the first to fail by more than a second. But the Silver Arrows would have worked for the race rather than on their pace on a flying lap. Mark Webber (Red Bull) is only 13th behind Nico Hulkenberg (Force India). The Australian is followed by Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), who is ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The Toro Rosso drivers are the last drivers with less than two seconds behind. Bruno Senna (Williams) is once again behind his teammate since the Brazilian is only 17th. Charles Pic (Marussia) is 21st with more than four seconds behind, but the Frenchman is almost a second ahead of his teammate Timo Glock.

The session ended with Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1 Team) suffering an engine failure in the Tunnel. The RS27 engine had covered more than 2000 km and the team intended to change it after this session. The oil deposited on the track will certainly be detrimental to the free practice sessions of the GP2 Series which follow. The second free practice session will be held from 14 p.m.