Monaco: Alonso leads McLaren 1-2 in opening practice

More than six tenths behind teammate Alonso, rookie Lewis Hamilton finished the opening session second fastest and therefore locked out another McLaren 1-2 — a scenario that is becoming commonplace at grands prix prior to Ferrari showing its hand in qualifying and the race.

BMW's Nick Heidfeld was third best, and the crashed Fisichella fourth. The Ferraris are fifth (Kimi Raikkonen) and eight (Felipe Massa).

Australia's Mark Webber, after demonstrating promising pace good enough for sixth quickest, ended his morning practice session at Monaco with a left-rear puncture, amid suggestions that he might have tagged the barriers with his RB3.

Giancarlo Fisichella crashed his Renault at turn one in the dying minutes of Thursday morning practice in Monte Carlo.

The Roman clipped the curb on the inside of Ste Devote and sped into the tire wall. The session was not red flagged, but flying yellows meant that world champion Fernando Alonso's dominant quickest time would remain unchallenged.

The first official practice session was also red-flagged for five minutes shortly before 10.30 local to clear Christijan Albers' stricken Spyker.

The Dutchman's orange-liveried car broke down on the entrance to the Tabac.

Conditions were warm, sunny, dry and calm – perfect – on the Cote d'Azur as Thursday morning practice kicked off in Monaco, but the weather forecast for the rest of the weekend is not as good.

A 60 per cent likelihood of rain – the lightest of which is expected for Sunday afternoon, incidentally – exists for both qualifying and race day.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.973 33
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.601 + 0.628 14
3. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:17.616 + 0.643 31
4. Fisichella Renault 1:17.758 + 0.785 27
5. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:17.918 + 0.945 28
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:17.956 + 0.983 19
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:18.074 + 1.101 27
8. Massa Ferrari 1:18.189 + 1.216 29
9. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:18.675 + 1.702 28
10. Barrichello Honda 1:18.676 + 1.703 22
11. Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:18.869 + 1.896 29
12. Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:18.967 + 1.994 27
13. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:19.095 + 2.122 16
14. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:19.203 + 2.230 27
15. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:19.285 + 2.312 24
16. Kovalainen Renault 1:19.321 + 2.348 27
17. Button Honda 1:19.332 + 2.359 27
18. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:19.337 + 2.364 22
19. Trulli Toyota 1:19.496 + 2.523 22
20. Schumacher Toyota 1:19.799 + 2.826 25
21. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:21.634 + 4.661 19
22. Albers Spyker-Ferrari 1:23.235 + 6.262 5