Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the opening practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix as he headed Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen by 0.15s.
The two Mercedes drivers were comfortably the busiest of the field in the opening session, with Hamilton completing 49 laps and setting the pace with a 1:18.750. While Hamilton's time came relatively early in the session, the track continued to improve after a damp start and Verstappen took second place on the chequered flag.
FP1 marked the first time the 17-year-old Toro Rosso rookie had driven at Monaco, but he was just 0.149s slower than the defending world champion in the opening session. Verstappen's late lap put him ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, with the Red Bull driver setting the fastest first sector as he threatened to snatch top spot, eventually falling 0.3s short.
Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Ferrari in a competitive opening session, ending up 0.384s slower than Hamilton, while Carlos Sainz made it two Toro Rossos in the top five as he also got within half a second of the quickest time. Vettel did have one close call with the barriers as he lost the rear of his Ferrari at Casino Square, sliding wide and coming within inches of making contact with the outside wall.
Pastor Maldonado was sixth for Lotus but one of a number of drivers to make use of the escape road at Turn 1, twice having to spin his car round to rejoin. However, he wasn't alone as Valtteri Bottas similarly made two trips in to the run-off area.
Both Red Bull drivers enjoyed strong starts to the weekend as Daniil Kvyat ended FP1 in seventh place ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg. It was a messy session for Rosberg, who hit the wall early on after getting out of shape at Tabac. The Mercedes only lightly tapped the barrier on the outside and was soon back out on track with no visible damage, but Rosberg ended up a second slower than his team-mate.
Felipe Massa rounded out the top ten for Williams ahead of the McLaren pair of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Alonso had been much higher in the standings but limited his running late in the session, while the opposite was true of Button who was confined to the garage for the opening hour as McLaren worked on his car.
Click here for a look at the technical updates brought by all the teams at the start of the European season
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| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:18.750 | 49 |
| 02 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:18.899 | 42 |
| 03 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:19.086 | 27 |
| 04 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:19.134 | 31 |
| 05 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:19.245 | 40 |
| 06 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:19.454 | 35 |
| 07 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:19.520 | 33 |
| 08 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:19.679 | 31 |
| 09 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:19.762 | 47 |
| 10 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:19.766 | 32 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:19.791 | 28 |
| 12 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:20.202 | 15 |
| 13 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:20.274 | 34 |
| 14 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:20.619 | 35 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:20.784 | 34 |
| 16 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:20.857 | 24 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:20.917 | 36 |
| 18 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:21.219 | 25 |
| 19 | Will Stevens | Manor | 1:23.234 | 27 |
| 20 | Roberto Merhi | Manor | 1:23.404 | 31 |
