Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo got the best out of a revised Renault engine to power to the top of the timesheet in the second practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, lapping 0.6s quicker than second-placed Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
The session got underway with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg setting the early pace with a time of 1:16.694 on supersoft tyres before Hamilton usurped his team-mate with a lap of 1:15.489, again set on supersofts.
Romain Grosjean in trouble, however, the Haas driver losing control on the exit of the tunnel and hitting the barriers on his right-hand side on the approach to the Nouvelle Chicane.
Fifteen minutes into the session Ricciardo began to show his hand by taking top spot with a lap of 1m15.315s on the ultrasoft tyre before shaving a further three tenths off that time on his next tour.
Rio Haryanto was the next to exit the session in a collision, with the Manor driver also losing control on the tunnel exit, though the Indonesian’s impact was considerably heavier than Grosjean’s. Haryanto was quickly on the radio to report himself uninjured, however.
The Mercededs duo eventually bolted on the ultrasoft tyres, and both Hamilton and Rosberg vaulted up the order, with Hamilton setting a best time of 1:15.213 to sit 0.2s off Ricciardo. Rosbewrg was further three tenths back.
Ricciardo was in no mood to give up the top spot, however, and he soon put himself out of reach with a best lap that made him the only driver to dip in the 1m14s bracket in the second session.
Fourth place went to Ricciardo’s Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen. The Spanish Grand Prix winner doesn’t have the upgraded Renault power unit at this event and he ended the session almost a second adrift of Ricciardo.
The young Dutchman ended up two tenths of a second clear of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, who was just over 1500ths of a second ahead of his team-mate Carlos Sainz.
Kimi Raikkonen finished seventh ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez on a difficult afternoon for Ferrari. The Finn was 1.4s down on Ricciardo. Team-mate Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, was ninth quickest on an afternoon when had a spin at Mirabeau midway through the session, which caused rear wing damage, and then clipped the barrier at Ste Devote in the closing stages. Tenth place in the session went to McLaren’s Jenson Button.
1. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m14.607s2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m15.213s 3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m15.506s4. Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m15.571s 5. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m15.815s 6. Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m15.981s 7. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m16.040s 8. Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m16.120s 9. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m16.269s 10 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1m16.325s11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m16.487s 12 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m16.723s 13 Esteban Gutierrez Haas/Ferrari 1m16.782s 14 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1m16.849s 15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m16.874s 16 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m17.286s 17 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1m17.530s 18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m17.562s 19 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m17.761s 20 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1m17.999s 21 Rio Haryanto Manor/Mercedes 1m18.647s 22 Pascal Wehrlein Manor/Mercedes 1m18.814s
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