Practice report
Formula 1
Rosberg sets the pace on Thursday in Monaco
Early predictions claimed that the two Mercedes drivers would be one of the favorites to take the win on the streets of Monte Carlo.
Nancy Knapp Schilke
Edited: May 23, 2013, 7:33 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in the opening day of the Grand Prix de Monaco. In fact the German topped the time sheets twice to lead both FIA Formula One practices. Rosberg's best lap was in the afternoon session with a 1:14.759. His teammate Lewis Hamilton was second best with a 1:15.077.
Rosberg said, "A very productive day for us. We completed a lot of laps and I feel comfortable in the car. It seems that we are quick again on one lap but we have been working hard again to make improvements to our race pace. It will be interesting to see where we are compared to the others over the weekend as it's not really representative today."
He added, "It feels great to be back here driving around the streets of my home city here again and I'm very much looking forward to the weekend."
Hamilton was 0.318 of a second off the pace of his teammate. The Briton commented: “It's been a positive start for us today and I'm pleased with what we have achieved here in Monaco.”
Practice day saw a lot of action on the tight circuit which leaves little margin for errors by even the world’s best drivers in the ultimate premier series. Many of the teams were testing the Pirelli tyres – mainly the super soft ones plus car setup for the weekend.
For the Grand Prix de Monaco, the Formula One teams will not be on track tomorrow. They return on Saturday for final practice prior to qualifying.
Hamilton explained, “We did some good long run work this afternoon and the supersoft tyres seem to be performing well. I need to improve my one lap pace however, partly with the balance of the car and partly from me.”
Ferrari also ended up with their two drivers setting nearly equal times on the Circuit de Monaco with Fernando Alonso turning a lap of 1:15.196 for the third best time of the day. He was closely followed by his teammate Felipe Massa who clocked a 1:15.278.
Mark Webber was fifth fastest as the Australian turned his best lap time at 1:15.404 while Sebastian Vettel's best in his Red Bull-Renault placed him ninth.
“I think traditionally we’re never too electric here on Thursday’s, so today was actually one of the better ones we’ve had in the last few years. You’ve got to be very, very focused here; concentration is very, very high. It’s a challenging venue to pull everything together,” said Webber.
Kimi Raikkonen placed his Lotus F1 sixth, just ahead of his teammate Romain Grosjean. The Finn’s best lap was a 1:15.511 while Grosjean fastest was two-tenths of a second slower. Raikkonen commented, “I was much happier at the end of today than this morning.”
However for Grosjean who was third fastest in the morning ended his afternoon early when he contacted a barrier on his out lap. The Frenchman explained “After a great start to the day it was a real shame to end things early. I didn’t have the grip I expected going into the corner, but there was nothing wrong with the car; my braking and entry speed were all wrong and I ended up hitting the barrier.”
McLaren’s Jenson Button has been in the news after the Honda announcement that they would supply engines next year for the McLaren team. However, now the Briton is focused on this weekend. With the eighth fastest practice time of 1:15.959.
Button said, “Our pace on a long run looks surprisingly good, although we’re not quite there with our qualifying pace yet. Still, I feel happier with the car here than I have the past few weekends. There are some areas in which we’ve struggled before that now seem a little bit better, and that’s obviously positive.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Williams could switch to Mercedes power - report
Next article Rosberg and Hamilton take 1-2 fastest laps on Thursday in Moncao
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Nancy Knapp Schilke
Whincup takes his fifth V8 Supercars championship
Supercars
Supercars
Whincup takes his fifth V8 Supercars championship
Perez beats McLaren on his departure
Formula 1
Formula 1
Perez beats McLaren on his departure
Tiga Race Cars share first peek of their LM214
WEC
WEC
Tiga Race Cars share first peek of their LM214
More from
Felipe Massa
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Formula 1
Formula 1
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
Formula 1
Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
More from
Ferrari
Ferrari explains tyre pressure mistake in Monza WEC
WEC
WEC
Monza
2 h
Ferrari explains tyre pressure mistake in Monza WEC
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
WEC
WEC
Monza
20 h
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
Latest news
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
Feature
Discover prime content
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.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe