Rain ahead of the second practice was exactly what the drivers did not want. With Saturday and Sunday forecast to be dry they had no incentive to run on the wet track.
Valtteri Bottas was the only driver to venture out during the first 40 minutes, returning to the pits after a single, twitchy run. After that the track fell silent until Adrian Sutil ventured out in the Sauber just before the halfway mark.
The Ferrari drivers were among the first to join the track when the conditions improved, but Kimi Raikkonen didn’t stay out for long. His gearbox stuck in third as he passed the pits and he had to complete a slow tour back in, which marked the end of his session.
A handful of drivers completed laps on intermediate tyres before another wait began for the track to become dry enough for slick tyres. This didn’t happen until the final ten minutes, at which point all the remaining cars appeared on track at once.
Despite the inevitable traffic problems around the tight Monaco circuit, Fernando Alonso consistently posted the fastest times to end up on top with a lap of 1’18.482. Using the super-soft tyres on the still slippery track, his lap was two tenths of a second slower than the fastest from first practice set by Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes driver was second-quickest after having to abort one lap when he came across Marcus Ericsson who had crashed at Portier.
Sebastian Vettel took third ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, meaning six different teams took the top six places.
2014 Monaco Grand Prix
- New radio reveals Hamilton’s suspicions in Monaco
- Bianchi wins Driver of the Weekend with first points
- Second-highest score of the year so far for Monaco
- 2014 Monaco Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
- New leader after three perfect Monaco predictions
Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo
Jack (@jmc200)
22nd May 2014, 14:47
My God Alonso can hustle a car! A privilege to watch.
HiPn0tIc (@hipn0tic)
22nd May 2014, 15:25
Pure talent…give him a bus, and he still get the best out of it
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd May 2014, 14:50
A Red Bull mechanic had to drag Raikkonen out of the way to keep him from being run over by Vettel:
https://twitter.com/f1fanatic_co_uk/status/469474277897818112
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
22nd May 2014, 15:18
@keithcollantine XD
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
22nd May 2014, 15:35
He badly wants to drive that Red Bull, lol. Or maybe he was bored.
Metallion (@metallion)
22nd May 2014, 16:22
And your tweet was mentioned in a Finnish newspaper http://www.iltalehti.fi/formulat/2014052218332370_fo.shtml. Here’s a link to the video too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Zx7Xz6u8M
Ron (@rcorporon)
22nd May 2014, 17:16
C’mon Kimi… your car isn’t so bad that it’s worth getting run over for.
Broc Smith (@strifeforce)
22nd May 2014, 18:01
Big Nige to the rescue!
Damonw
22nd May 2014, 14:54
Makes me laugh at all the people who buy all the hype with Ferrari. They always run light in practice, come Saturday they will struggle to get into the top 5.
Damonw
22nd May 2014, 14:56
Should I say in the top 7!
Joshua Mesh (@joshua-mesh)
22nd May 2014, 15:07
What hype?
Damonw
22nd May 2014, 15:31
Do you go on other sites or watch the TV?
ecefrm
22nd May 2014, 15:37
Links?
Damonw
22nd May 2014, 15:39
Zzzz it happens every weekend on Sky and Autosport when Ferrari go for their usual practice glory runs.
ecefrm
22nd May 2014, 15:41
I see. No links.
omarR-pepper
22nd May 2014, 15:55
Here’s the first link I found :P
https://www.racefans.net/2014/05/22/ferrari-top-tail-damp-second-practice-session/comment-page-1/#comment-1932941
Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
22nd May 2014, 15:00
The cream rises :)
Damonw
22nd May 2014, 15:03
To the top of the practice championship? :-)
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
22nd May 2014, 15:20
I bet he was giving 800 % ;-). I think Kimi and Fernando must deliberately drive relaxed to make the ferrari guys to improve things further ..Though you can’t do that today with telemetry .
John Mwesigwa (@sigwa)
22nd May 2014, 15:30
Your should have seen Alonso beating that donkey on the final time lap; You would think he was actually going for the podium…….I think few praises from Montezemolo can do a lot.
Garns (@)
22nd May 2014, 15:53
Alonso could drive my go-kart as fast!
Does the great man need to leave to win a third? Is so where? Mercs don’t need him, RBR only if Seb goes (why swap??) Dan looks tight (nice Daniel), Lotus have had issues (hopefully will recover), will Force India be a top 3 in 3 years??
Ferd needs a buy into Merc at all cost next year!!
pxcmerc (@)
22nd May 2014, 16:57
he might actually be better of at McLaren if the Honda PU works out. Lewis is too good to give up, and Nico is perfect for the team.
pxcmerc (@)
22nd May 2014, 16:58
*off,
Hope Lewis comes in on Saturday with his game face, showing up for work late … sheesh, Lewis can’t keep the bolder rolling by coming in late for practice.
Corrado (@)
22nd May 2014, 18:15
I may be wrong, but I think it’s a little too much hype around the Honda PU, especially in 2015. I mean, I’d be kinda amazed if the Honda PU will be the best right off the bat, not to mention 1 year deficit of racing experience. Mercedes PU is slightly revolutionary and its concept proved better, so if Honda doesn’t copy the Mercedes engine (or come up with a better ideea), then improve it… it’s hard to believe the engine switch will be a good move from McLaren. Then again, at least so far, McLaren’s problem seems to be the actual car, maybe a better driver too, but not the engine. They have the best engine on the grid, but it doesn’t show.