LIVE: Monaco Grand Prix FP1

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Follow our live coverage of the first free practice session for the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix with comprehensive as-it-happens coverage from F1i!

This is one of the highlights of the entire Formula One world championship, thanks to its unique street circuit setting in one of the world's most glamorous locations. Every driver wants to win at Monaco - so who's going to be celebrating success on Sunday afternoon?

LIVE: Monaco Grand Prix - FP1

Until Barcelona the easy answer would have been 'Mercedes', but the Spanish Grand Prix put an end to their run of success and now both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton will be under something of a cloud after their coming together on the first lap ended up with both cars crashing out.

Will the team and its two star drivers bounce back from that disaster and return to winning form? Of the two it's Rosberg who has the best form here with three consecutive wins here - can he make it four in a row this weekend? Or will Hamilton be determined to redeem himself with a victory?

And then of course there's the new boy in town: after his fairy tale maiden outing for Red Bull last time out, what can Max Verstappen do for an encore? He's the youngest ever Grand Prix winner and the first from the Netherlands, but can he extend his unbelievable run with a second success this weekend? And what will his team mate Daniel Ricciardo do to get back on top within the team?

All of which leaves Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen a little bit in the share, despite both drivers finishing on the podium in Spain. Can they go one better this weekend? Ferrari hasn't won here in Monaco since 2001 - it's just not a circuit that suits the car by all accounts -

More to the point, a chance of showers forecast for Sunday might shake things up and open the door to literally anyone taking the chequered flag. Williams, McLaren and Renault are also looking for a surprise return to the top, and don't rule out Toro Rosso, Force India, Sauber, Manor or even newcomers Haas F1 pulling off something special this weekend. Monaco is the kind of place where dreams come true, after all.

It all starts here with Friday morning's Free Practice 1 session at 10am local time (9am BST). We'll be bringing you all the news and information from trackside as it happens on F1i's live page. Do join us and see what happens next in the extraordinary ongoing story of Formula One!

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.