Free Practice 1: Barrichello, Massa, Hamilton Lead in Monaco

Rubens Barrichello was the fastest in the first Free Practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix. The Brazilian already puts Brawn GP as favorites, while McLaren and Ferrari seem to be making a comeback. Massa and Hamilton contested the second and third places. For Red Bull Racing, the Grand Prix started poorly due to reliability issues, while BMW has yet to regain performance. Mystery at Toyota.

The weather was perfect for this first day in Monaco. It’s mild, and the drivers already know that the grip won’t be the best of the weekend. They’ll need to find the best balance and the right tires to clock good lap times. Most drivers head out in the opening seconds to complete a warm-up lap. After six minutes, it’s Vettel who gets to work first with a fast lap. First time at 1:25. But lap times are there to be improved; Timo Glock in the Toyota will take care of that.

After twenty minutes, the 1:17” time is reached by Vettel. After thirty minutes, the serious matters begin as Hamilton, Massa, and more generally Ferrari and McLaren, fight for the top positions. Clearly, the two teams seem more performant than elsewhere, but reliability on a very demanding acceleration track will still be the key to success. And as a reminder that nothing will be easy, 30 minutes before the end of the 1h30 of testing, it’s Barrichello and his Brawn GP who take the lead. The Brazilian is more than three-tenths ahead of Massa.

Ten minutes before the end, several drivers, including Massa, Hamilton, Vettel, Räikkönen, Kovalainen, and Barrichello, were battling for the top 5. The fight quickly stopped after white smoke emerged from the hood of Vettel’s RB5. The German driver returned to the garage, and as if by mutual agreement, all the other drivers eased off, leaving Barrichello in front and the podium unchanged. A few minutes later, it was Webber’s Red Bull that encountered a problem, probably the same as Vettel’s, which likely involved not the engine, but the gearbox.

In the end, behind the podium, Kovalainen takes the 4th fastest time, ahead of Räikkönen. The first other car is a Williams, Nakajima’s, followed by his teammate Rosberg. In 8th place, the championship leader places his Brawn GP 0.9 seconds behind his teammate. Alonso is ninth, ahead of Mark Webber in the Red Bull. The RB5 seems to be experiencing some reliability issues, possibly due to the new double diffuser installed since this weekend.

Buemi leads Bourdais. They are 11th and 14th respectively, with a half-second gap. Piquet is 12th, ahead of Vettel, who has only completed 16 laps while most drivers have done 30.

Behind, the Force India cars surround the BMWs, which are not achieving the expected performances. Even worse, Toyota secures the last positions, more than two and a half seconds behind Barrichello. The team is said to have focused on the tires, delivering performances only for the FP2.

Also to report are some issues in the Saint Devote corner. Several drivers brushed the walls or spun, as the track was still very slippery.

Results of Free Practice 1 – Monaco – Thursday, May 21, 2009: