Good morning and welcome to ESPNF1's live coverage of first practice for the crown jewel of Formula One: the Monaco Grand Prix. Don't be shocked - it is Thursday and it is time for Free Practice 1

While Laurence runs out of the media centre to find a vantage point in the sun, why don't you check out our preview of the weekend here

So, excited? You can't help but love this event, even if it's a logistical nightmare for the teams and drivers. I'm going to give you another nudge towards this brilliant column from Maurice Hamilton - which includes a story of Eddie Jordan's ineptitude with a spanner - before we get down to business

Today's weather? Well have a look at the picture that Laurence tweeted on his way in this morning. Pretty idyllic don't you think?

© ESPNF1

There's going to be some great stuff on Twitter as Laurence brings you pictures and atmosphere as well as gossip from the paddock, so make sure you're following @ESPNF1

The other way you can get in touch with us today is using the link above, and we'll endeavour to answer as many questions as possible. We've already had one in from Solomon:

"I am sure this question has been answered before, why is the monaco's free practice 1/2 held on the thursday (instead of the usual friday) before the GP weekend?"

It's because it allows the roads to be reopened to the public on the Friday. I also remember being told that it was an early example of Monegasque hospitality, but I think that's more a nice story than fact!

It really is a gorgeous day on the Cote d'Azur, but we don't have this weather forecast for the rest of the weekend. Expect to see plenty of running today though, as drivers want to build up their confidence and speed on the circuit

Usually I'd give you a list of drivers getting to run in FP1, but today there are no replacements. That's because the driver really can make a difference here, so they need all the track time they can get to ensure they're fully dialled in to the track

The light goes green and Kovalainen leads Vergne out of the pit lane

All of the drivers are heading out for installation laps on soft tyres - the supersoft is the option compound this weekend

I've watched this race countless times, but I still can't believe just how tight it looks when the cars take to the track

Perez completes the first timed lap of the day - a 1:39.497 which is well off the pace

Perez appears to be completing a couple of installation laps - he's not running quickly and now he pits

Vettel pits after an installation lap with flo-viz on his front wing. There was also flo-viz on the rear wing of the Ferrari and Maldonado's rear wing too

Ricciardo complains that there's no grip at present once he's back in the pits, but that's Monaco for you. The forecast rain will make it even more slippery on Saturday and Sunday

Only Button has yet to complete an installation lap. He's in his car but not left the pits

As everyone else has been out, we've now got our traditional FP1 lull. The track has changed slightly since last year for safety reasons, with the barrier that Perez hit having been moved back substantially and the run-off area resurfaced with an abrasive surface. That's also the case at turns one and five, while there are tech-pro barriers (like Perez hit) installed at turns one and 14 - where Petrov caused a red flag

Button now in an installation lap and with the track to himself

Paco emails in: "Hello from San Francisco. Can you explain flo-viz a bit. Does some of it get in the track?"

Firstly - good commitment staying up in San Francisco Paco! Secondly, it's a high visibility aero paint which is sprayed all over parts of the car to then display how the parts deal with the air flow. Some can come off, but you don't often see it on the track - some was getting on the Red Bull front wheels earlier

Button's installation lap saw him running an extra little bit of bodywork edging the nose in front of the cockpit. McLaren is looking in to the possibility of a higher chassis next year so the team is checking the visibility for the drivers, but Button said on the radio that he struggles to see over the brow of the hills and to find the kerbs when turning in to a corner so "with my current seat position, not good visibility. At all"

Chris emails in from Sabah in Malaysia to ask:

"Hamilton's Barcelona qualifying time was erased because the car did not make it back to the pit. My question is why those car did not make it back to the pit after the main race are not getting a penalty?"

It's because teams always fill their cars to just make the end of the race, so the regulations do not state that they have to make it back to the pits under their own steam after the race

Ross emails in to ask:

"Whats the risk on a narrow track like this for a moving chicane like Karthikeyan to cause havoc with the the field when lapping? Seriously, is the risk greater and how do drivers prepare for the slow car and maybe porer driver skills ahead?"

Well, that may be a touch harsh on Karthikeyan, Ross, but traffic is always a problem here. It's actually a bigger issue in qualifying, but drivers just have to remain patient when lapping any car and pick their time to pass. We sometimes see a bigger gap to the back come the end of the race because backmarkers spend more time slowing for the leaders than racing themselves!

Vergne has gone quickest on a 1:23.961 as he builds up speed - that's his third timed lap of this run

Ricciardo's first flying lap is a 1:27.617

And speaking of Karthikeyan, he's just done a 1:31.165

Vergne improves again to a 1:22.207 and Ricciardo to a 1:23.704

Vergne now down to a 1:21.361. A perfect display of how drivers build up confidence and speed. Ricciardo does a 1:21.919

Karthikeyan also lowering his mark, now on a 1:25.882

1:20.418 now for Vergne, and a 1:21.171 for Ricciardo

It's only these three lapping at present

And now we're under the 1m20s mark - Vergne doing a 1:19.788

Ricciardo improves to remain 0.6s slower than his team-mate

Mario emails in: "Hello from Luanda-Angola. I know it's too early, but, what are the predictions in terms of laps for the tyre wear during the race for the super-softs and soft compounds???"

Unfortunately Mario, as you say it is too early to give you a figure, but we expect the soft tyre to last fairly well due to the smooth nature of the track

Ricciardo slides the rear end out of the final corner and is helped by a steep kerb that just stops the left rear hitting the wall

Marius emails in to ask: "What happens if the safety car gets any sort of problem during the race. Is there a backup car on stand by?"

Yes there is Marius, Mercedes brings two safety cars and also has some high-performance medical cars as well

Grosjean's first flying lap is a 1:22.079. Not taking him long to build up some pace

Ricciardo now on a 1:19.251 - just 0.165s slower than his team-mate Vergne

Grosjean with a 1:19.905, he's dancing the Lotus around at the moment and does the fastest first sector

Grosjean now goes quickest on a 1:18.820. Schumacher's done a 1:19.941 but is very quick in the middle sector

Deepak asks: "Why is KERS always a suspect behind fire incidents in GP racing?????"

It's because so much energy is stored in such a small space that there is a risk of it shorting out and sparking, which then can ignites something. I must stress, though, that Williams has yet to confirm the cause of its fire in Barcelona

Grosjean with a 1:17.645 now, over a second faster than Schumacher

We've got a yellow flag, and it's because Karthikeyan locked up and went straight on at Mirabeau. The abrasive run-off helped him stop though, and he's pushed back and on his way

Grosjean managed to improve to a 1:17.188 before pitting. Alonso on track struggling to find a gap but now he's leading his team-mate Massa - who looks pretty ragged

Schumacher goes second with a 1:17.413

Plenty of slow cars jumping out of the way of others with 15 cars on track

Schumacher beautifully catches a slide out of Casino Square

Someone's started building a new yacht club headquarters on the outside of the tunnel exit, blocking the view out of the tunnel and, most importantly for me, ruining the shot you used to get of a car exiting the tunnel at high speed in to the sunlight

Alonso goes third on a 1:17.600 and then sets the fastest first sector

A number of lockups occurring under braking for the Nouvelle Chicane - where Perez crashed last year. It looks like drivers can be a bit braver on the brakes as the track has been resurfaced there to iron out a bump

A lot of distracting talk around me as the Pit Babes gallery starts to be populated. Make sure you keep an eye out for that at the end of the session

Felipe, that's not how you do it. I know drivers like to kiss the barriers on exit when they're really going for it, but Massa bounces the right hand side of the car off the barrier when driving in a straight line approaching Tabac. Odd. He's back in the pits having any damage assessed

Incidentally, Massa's race engineer Rob Smedley was very diplomatic, saying: "It's Monaco, you've got to do it this way"

Raikkonen is still in the garage having only completed an installation lap. He appears to have a steering issue

Alonso's gone fastest on a 1:17.126, so Grosjean rejoins the track. Perez third on a 1:17.200

Hamilton improves to a 1:17.301

Grzesiek emails in to ask: "This place is a paradise for "street master" drivers. Who, in your opinion, can be described as street master driver? I bet on Alonso, Hamilton and maybe Webber. And Kubica would be on the list (do you remember Monaco 2010? ), but he is out of competition."

I agree with all you say, but the main thing is there are no real weak drivers on the streets. Grosjean needs adding to that list - he had an immense drive here in GP2 last year - and Maldonado too.

That's timing. I praise Grosjean and he goes quickest on a 1:16.751

And we'd also said Hamilton - he then goes 0.004s quicker!

Christopher emails in on the subject of tyres:

"Why does Bernie not make it more interesting next year by inviting Bridgestone/Michelin back to compete with Pirelli. Teams can then choose a manufacturer that suits their car construction and the war is on.... Nothing is wrong with setting the parameters on degradation for each manufacturer so that the rules are the same. Right now I have to agree with Michael that F1 is too focussed on tyres (Pirelli). I think Bridgestone or Michael ....(sorry) Michelin tyres will put a perspective on things."

Unfortunately Christopher, you can't set degradation parameters - if we had a tyre war then both companies would make the most durable tyre possible. Paul Hembery has said he'd be happy to have competition, but warned that would certainly be the result

Ajay asks about Kimi's lack of running, but unfortunately I have no further information other than what I said earlier. The team says "work" is being done on his car, and we believe it to be a steering issue

Massa improves to a 1:17.052 and fourth quickest

Grosjean goes quickest with a 1:16.630. He looks very strong

Michael Schumacher with a broken front wing, looks like the right hand upright has broken and dropped the front right corner on to the ground

Maldonado improves his best time but stays third - 0.013s slower than Hamilton

Alonso and Massa separated by just 0.010s, but Massa's just lost the rear a touch under braking and skipped the Nouvelle Chicane

After that front wing damage Schumacher's session seems to be over

Big lockup from Karthikeyan in to the Nouvelle Chicane, almost allowing the car to drift in to the wall but just getting off the brakes in time

Massa looks fairly quick around here so far, but not all that controlled. He's just improved to a 1:16.843

Alonso goes quickest with a 1:16.495 - Ferrari looking pretty strong this morning

Button's improved his best time and now hit double figures in terms of laps. He's only 11th though on a 1:17.552

Raikkonen is walking down the pit lane and his session is definitely over. It is a steering rack being changed and obviously you want to be comfortable around Monaco

Alonso improves again to a 1:16.265 - that's comfortably quicker than Vettel's best last year of 1:16.619

Perez does a 1:16.711, while Button does a 1:17.190 for eighth place

Kovalainen has parked his Caterham on the exit of the tunnel and there's lots of smoke around - he confirms on the radio "engine is gone" - and visibility is very poor due to the smoke. He's quite lucky that it didn't cause a big accident.

It's a big blow-up, the engine went in the tunnel and filled it with smoke so nobody will have been able to see. By the time Kovalainen got out of the tunnel the rear tyres locked and stopped him where he was.

The clock keeps ticking as it is a practice session, so we're down to less than six minutes left/

Marshals are jacking up Kovalainen's car but still need to wheel it off the track (or to a crane) before we can get going again. Progress is slow even though the car is now moving, and we may not have any more running

Confirmed: The session will NOT restart. That's the end of the running

A sensible decision, there's little running that can be done once they clear the car and there is lots of oil all through the tunnel which needs cleaning up.

Kovalainen is watching from the side of the track waiting for a lift back to the pits

So it's Fernando Alonso who is quickest at the end of FP1, fairly comfortable ahead of Romain Grosjean by this season's standards. Perez appears to have no ill-effects from his crash last year and is third quickest ahead of Hamilton, Maldonado and Massa

Despite the running ending early, we saw plenty of good action in that session as drivers built up confidence. Make sure you join us again for FP2 in two and a half hours, but don't think there's nothing for you to enjoy before then. Get following ESPNF1 on Twitter for all the goings on in the paddock, and keep an eye out for those infamous Monaco pit babes too. Bye for now.