Monaco – Free Practice 1: Alonso Already on the Attack!

These are sun-drenched Monegasque streets with a temperature of 22°C that welcome the drivers who, as soon as the green lights are on at the end of the pit lane, set off for their installation laps. As an urban circuit tradition dictates, no main driver has given up their seat in this first free practice session, as preparation and gradually gaining confidence between the rails are crucial for success in the Principality.

Sergio Pérez (Sauber) is the first to record a timed lap in 1:39.497 (Soft) while at Red Bull and Ferrari, they use green fluid to monitor the aerodynamic flow: even in Monaco, teams continue to work on their developments, with some teams having specific packages, as the Monaco circuit requires maximum downforce.

After about ten minutes of intense activity, the streets of Monaco regain their tranquility, where everything is luxury, calm, and pleasure. In fact, one has to wait fifteen minutes for Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) to join and surpass Sergio Pérez on the time sheet with 1:30.858. The Frenchman logically improves on the next lap with 1:27.491 then 1:23.961 and 1:22.207. The Toro Rosso driver is alone on the track, with his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, and Narain Karthikeyan (HRT).

The native of Pontoise is logically the first to go under the 1:20 mark with a time of 1:19.788. Vergne improves once again with a 1:19.086 before returning to the pits.

In his first timed lap, Romain Grosjean (Lotus) did not hold back in his efforts to set an initial time of 1:22.079, while Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) did the same, placing third with 1:19.941. Romain Grosjean was the first to displace Vergne from the top of the provisional leaderboard with a time of 1:18.820, battling with Michael Schumacher.

After his victory in Spain, Pastor Maldonado (Williams) begins his Monaco weekend with an initial timed lap of 1:19.692. The first yellow flag is caused by Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT, who misses his braking at Mirabeau and ends up in the run-off area, without consequence.

At mid-session, Romain Grosjean leads with a time of 1:17.188, ahead of Michael Schumacher, Kamui Kobayashi, Pastor Maldonado, Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hülkenberg, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg, and Bruno Senna. The McLaren drivers and Sebastian Vettel have not yet completed any timed laps, while at Ferrari, Felipe Massa complains about understeer. However, his teammate is quickly on pace to set the fastest time with his usual aggressive style, especially on the Louis Chiron chicane curbs, but has to abort his lap after being hindered by an HRT before the Rascasse braking zone, then, on the next lap, misses the swimming pool chicane without consequence. Massa, on his radio, indicates that he has kissed the rail, to which Rob Smedley responds that that’s what you have to do in Monaco!

Still attacking the clock, Fernando Alonso once again falls into traffic behind a Marussia. With Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren in his sights, the Spaniard grabs the best time with a 1:17.126, while Sergio Pérez improves his personal best to 1:17.200. On his first timed lap, Lewis Hamilton takes 10th place with a 1:18.164. The Stevenage native climbs to 4th place with his next attempt, clocking in at 1:17.301.

Coming out of the pits, Romain Grosjean takes the top of the timesheets with a 1:16.751, but has to concede it a few seconds later to Lewis Hamilton by just four thousandths.

The Briton is ahead of Grosjean, Alonso, Perez, Schumacher, Vettel, Rosberg, Massa, Kobayashi, and Maldonado. With 25 minutes remaining in the session, only Kimi Räikkönen has not recorded a timed lap and is logically in last position. The mechanics at Lotus appear to have worked on the steering of the Finn’s E20.

While no driver has yet fitted the Super Soft tires, with red sidewalls, offered by Pirelli, Romain Grosjean outpaces Lewis Hamilton with a time of 1:16.630, under the watchful eye of Kimi Räikkönen. Maldonado joins the Frenchman and the 2008 world champion under the 1:17 mark, while Michael Schumacher returns to his garage with a damaged front wing.

At Ferrari, Felipe Massa is only a hundredth of a second behind his team leader, while on the French side, Charles Pic (Marussia) and Jean-Eric Vergne both outperform their respective teammates. At the start of the last quarter-hour of practice, Fernando Alonso sets the fastest provisional time at 1:16.495. The Spaniard strengthens his lead on the next lap with 1:16.265, while Sergio Pérez climbs to third place at 1:16.711.

Quiet until now, like the Red Bull drivers, Jenson Button enters the provisional Top 10 with a 1:17.190. However, as Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham comes to a stop at the tunnel exit in a plume of white smoke, the track marshals wave the yellow flag followed by the red flag. The slow-motion replay shows that the Finnish driver drove through the entire tunnel with a long white plume behind his car, indicating an engine failure.

As only a few minutes remain and the clock keeps ticking, the race direction decides to prematurely end an already fiercely contested session where Fernando Alonso leads ahead of Grosjean, Perez, Hamilton, and Maldonado. Vergne and Pic are ahead of their respective teammates, while Kimi Räikkönen hasn’t set a single timed lap.

Free Practice 1 Results of the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix: