Formula 1

Alonso tops FP2 to break Mercedes dominance

1 Mins read

Fernando Alonso and Ferrari finished Free Practice Two in top spot as the Formula One circus got its feet well and truly under the table on the streets of Monaco.

Many fans were left bored for much of the session as heavy rain washed out a lot of the running, but they were rewarded in spades as the majority of the field took to the track in a frantic final ten minutes.

The result of which was Alonso setting a time of 1:18.482 – almost half a second faster than Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes who set a 1:18.902 to carry on the good form he brought in FP1. However, Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg couldn’t carry on his solid start – he was 20th after completing only six laps.

In third place and finally getting the upper hand on his team mate was Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, he was a tenth back on Hamilton whilst he was seven tenths ahead of amiable Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

Fourth place saw a very surprising result on the time sheets as Jean-Eric Vergne hustled the Toro Rosso into a 1:19.351 ahead of a good finish for Valtteri Bottas and the two Force Indias.

However, for the McLaren pairing of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen – who finished eighth and tenth respectively – it seems apparent they need to have a good look at the car to try and see where they can pick up the speed. Indeed it appears that the rate of development of the cars around them has completely outpaced the Woking collective.

It was also a bad day for Ferrari’s other driver Kimi Raikkonen who only completed four laps thanks to issues with the engine electronics.

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3rd Year Multimedia Journalism Student at Teesside University, interested in motorsport and writing about it as well. I'm also a qualified pilot but I don't mention that much.
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