Alonso fastest in Monaco practice

[davewilson]

Alonso fastest in Monaco practice

McLaren and Spain's Fernando Alonso blew away the field in first practice for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.

The defending Formula One champion blazed around Monte Carlo's 3.340km of streets in one minute 16.973 seconds.

Team-mate and current leader in the drivers' standings Lewis Hamilton of Britain was second, more than six tenths of a second behind.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was third, while Kimi Raikkonen was the first of the Ferraris in fifth.

Heidfeld clocked a 1min 17.616 seconds lap, while Giancarlo Fisichella of Renault was fourth with a 1:17.758.

Ferrari, who have won three of the four Grands Prix this season, were well off the pace, with Raikkonen almost a second down on Alonso.

Hamilton's first free practice session was not all plain sailing as the 22-year-old completed just 14 laps overall.

He was forced to watch the second half of the session from the pit wall due to a starter-motor failure on a car that has so far been faultless this season.

To compound matters, a piece of the starter-motor broke off and flew into the gearbox, which led to mechanics removing the floor of the McLaren to make repairs.

However, the team reported the fault had been corrected and that Hamilton would be back on track for the second session later on Thursday.

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber and the Williams of Nico Rosberg were sixth and seventh quickest respectively before the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

The Brazilian has dominated the last two races in Spain and Bahrain en route to victory and elevating himself to within three points of Hamilton.

Robert Kubica in the second BMW Sauber and Rubens Barrichello for Honda completed the top 10, with Britain's David Coulthard down in 13th for Red Bull, more than two seconds behind Alonso.

Honda and Britain's Jenson Button and the Super Aguri of Anthony Davidson were 17th and 18th respectively, both 2.3 seconds adrift.

Monaco Grand Prix, first practice:
1. Fernando Alonso, Spain, McLaren-Mercedes, 1 minute, 16.973 seconds, 33 laps completed
2. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:17.601, 14
3. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW-Sauber, 1:17.616, 21
4. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Renault, 1:17.758, 27
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 1:17.918, 28
6. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 1:17.996, 19
7. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 1:18.074, 27
8. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:18.189, 29
9. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW-Sauber, 1:18.675, 28
10. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Honda, 1:18.676. 22
11. Alexander Wurz, Austria, Williams, 1:18.869, 29
12. Scott Speed, United States, Toro Rosso, 1:18.967, 27
13. David Coulthard, Britain, Red Bull, 1:19.095, 18
14. Takuma Sato, Japan, Super Aguri, 1:19.203, 27
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Italy, Toro Rosso, 1:19.295, 24
16. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, Renault, 1:19.321, 27
17 . Jenson Button, Britain, Honda, 1:35.445, 24, 27
18. Anthony Davidson, Britain, Super Aguri, 1:19.332, 22
19. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 1:19.496, 22
20. Ralf Schumacher, Germany, Toyota, 1:19.799, 20
21. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Spyker, 1:21.634, 19
22 . Christijan Albers, Netherlands, Spyker, 1:23.26, 5