Hamilton heads tight field in Monaco FP1

Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet at the end of Thursday's first free practice session, edging out Sebastain Vettel by just 0.196s.

The Mercedes drivers' fastest lap was quicker than last year's pole while the top five drivers were covered by just under half a second.

Vettel's Ferrari suffered a slight mishap early on when he tapped the barriers while P3's Max Verstappen endured a puncture.

Other than that it was an incident-free session - a rare occurrence at Monaco - save for Nico Hulkenberg and Marcus Ericsson who were hit by technical gremlins which prevented any meaningful running.

Daniel Ricciardo clocked in with 45 laps under his belt and the fifth fastest time, right behind Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes.

Meanwhile, Jenson Button's return to the fray yielded P14, with the McLaren driver just fractionally down on team mate Stoffel Vandoorne.

The 2009 victor's time was just 1.529s slower than Lewis Hamitlon's fastest lap, an indication of the level of competition of the field in the Principality.

Free practice 1 results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:13.425s		40
2	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:13.621s	+ 0.196s	34
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:13.771s	+ 0.346s	32
4	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:13.791s	+ 0.366s	40
5	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:13.854s	+ 0.429s	45
6	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:14.111s	+ 0.686s	42
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:14.164s	+ 0.739s	37
8	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:14.201s	+ 0.776s	32
9	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:14.333s	+ 0.908s	39
10	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:14.425s	+ 1.000s	39
11	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:14.617s	+ 1.192s	37
12	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:14.813s	+ 1.388s	38
13	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:14.870s	+ 1.445s	34
14	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:14.954s	+ 1.529s	35
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:15.321s	+ 1.896s	33
16	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:15.595s	+ 2.170s	44
17	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:15.949s	+ 2.524s	42
18	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	1:16.258s	+ 2.833s	33
19	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault			3
20	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber			3

“Want to win a trackday experience? All you have to do is subscribe to our FREE newsletter HERE”

GALLERY: All the action from Monaco

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.