Ricciardo over 0.6s clear in error-strewn FP2

40

Daniel Ricciardo was over half a second clear of the rest of the field during FP2 for the Monaco Grand Prix which was punctuated by errors.

The Red Bull driver - running the upgraded Renault power unit this weekend - set the pace with a 1:14.607 on the ultrasoft tyre and was comfortably clear of the two Mercedes drivers, with Lewis Hamilton second on a 1:15.213. Nico Rosberg was a further 0.3s adrift, with Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull the only other driver to get within a second of Ricciardo.

The two Toro Rossos of Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz were fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen's Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel was one of a number of drivers to suffer incidents during the session, spinning at Mirabeau and hitting the wall before later touching the barrier at St Devote.

While Vettel could continue after both errors, Rio Haryanto and Kevin Magnussen both crashed out of the session. Haryanto lost control over a bump under braking for the Nouvelle Chicane, overcorrecting and spinning before hitting the inside barrier at relatively high speed.

Haryanto's crash came after a similar error for Romain Grosjean, who lost control on the same bump but hit the wall on the outside of the track, breaking his front wing and limping back to the pits.

For Magnussen it was an error at the final corner which ended his session, with the Renault driver understeering straight in to the barrier at Anthony Noghes. Magnussen's mistake followed a crash for team-mate Jolyon Palmer in FP1 which kept Palmer in the garage for a spell at the start of the afternoon session.

Jenson Button was tenth fastest for McLaren having recovered from hitting a loose drain cover in first practice although he was over 1.7s off the pace set by Ricciardo.

The focus in FP2 was on long runs, with teams keen to understand the tyre life of the new ultrasoft compound on the Monte Carlo street circuit. With degradation levels low even on the softest compound, Nico Rosberg exceeded 30 laps on one set of tyres in a stint which suggests Sunday will be a one-stop race unless forecast rain hits.

AS IT HAPPENED: Monaco Grand Prix - FP2

Romain Grosjean column: 'I want Jules to always be with us'

Silbermann says ... Easyjet-set

Chris Medland's 2016 Monaco Grand Prix preview

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

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
01	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:14.607	40
02	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:15.213	36
03	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:15.506	48
04	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:15.571	42
05	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:15.815	53
06	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:15.981	54
07	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:16.040	38
08	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:16.120	48
09	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:16.269	40
10	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:16.325	46
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:16.487	49
12	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:16.723	43
13	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	1:16.782	40
14	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:16.849	47
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:16.874	23
16	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:17.286	42
17	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:17.530	29
18	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:17.562	39
19	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:17.761	24
20	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:17.999	49
21	Rio Haryanto	Manor	1:18.647	10
22	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	1:18.814	46

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.