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Alonso tops in practice
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso clocked the fastest times at the Monaco Grand Prix’ opening practices.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso clocked the fastest times at the Monaco Grand Prix’ opening practices, while his rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton suffered his first crash of the season in the second run.
Alonso, the defending champion at Monaco, timed one minute, 16.973 seconds in his McLaren-Mercedes on his first run on the twisting street circuit, then 1:15.940 in the afternoon. Hamilton, the current overall leader, had the second-best time with 1:17.601 in the morning, but went almost straight to the tire barriers at the first turn of the second practice, apparently because of a steering problem.
The 22-year-old Hamilton was unhurt but the car was damaged on the left side.
Nick Heidfeld, who finished fourth in the season’s first three races in his BMW-Sauber, was third in the morning at 1:17.616 followed by Giancarlo Fisichella, at 1:17.758.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was fifth in the morning at 1:17.918 and second in the afternoon at 1:16.215. Felipe Massa, another Ferrari driver who won the last two races and the last three pole positions, was eighth in the morning and sixth in the second run.
