- Monaco GP - FP2
Alonso fastest in frantic FP2 finish
Fernando Alonso set the fastest time in a wet/dry second practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, getting the most from his car during a ten minute window of slick-tyre running at the end of the 90 minutes.
His best time of 1:18.482 was 0.5s clear of Lewis Hamilton in second place, as drivers had to deal with damp conditions, yellow flags and traffic as they threaded their cars through Monaco's narrow streets. Sebastian Vettel was third fastest with a 1:19.017 ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne, who appeared to excel in the low-grip conditions throughout the session.
The first 40 minutes of FP2 saw a single lap from Valtteri Bottas, the only driver brave enough to take on the slippery conditions caused by a hailstorm and heavy rain 50 minutes before the session. The combination of a damp track and newly laid tarmac from Mirabeau down to Portier, meant even the pit lane's elite elected to sit and watch the track dry rather than risk an expensive accident. But once dry patches started to emerge around the circuit, more and more drivers took their chances.
Daniil Kvyat was the first driver to make an error worthy of waved yellow flags, when he ran wide at Turn 1 but kept his Toro Rosso out of the pit wall. By the final 10 minutes his team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne became the first driver to bolt on slick tyres and his bravery was rewarded with the fastest time, albeit only for a matter of minutes.
Kimi Raikkonen set a slow lap while the track was still wet before returning to the pits with a clear problem. The Ferrari team immediately set to work around his car but it proved to be a terminal issue, meaning he was the only driver not to complete a lap in the dry. Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg did complete a dry lap, but was a long way off the pace, most likely due to traffic.
In the mad rush in the final two minutes Marcus Ericsson parked his car up in the wall on the run down to the tunnel, but he was able to find reverse gear without causing a delay to the final minute-and-a-half.
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