Hamilton tops FP1 - Monaco Grand Prix FP1 report

It was an eventful first practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton topped the standings, ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, whilst the Haas pair were given a black flag.

Both Haas drivers were given a blag flag for "Telemetry and radio issue” as they returned to the pits. They initially missed the black flag so the FIA stepped in to help get them back to the pitlane. Haas confirmed the issue saying: "Telemetry and radio issue - we can’t communicate with drivers. FIA stepped in so we could get cars back to pits as pit board’s weren’t doing the business."

They eventually got back out on track to field laps and improve on their earlier positions and times to 1:13.232s and 1:13.379s respectively.

Meanwhile, Mercedes’ dominance continued as they secured another impressive session. Hamilton topped the standings with a 1:12.106s with Bottas in third 0.072s back. The Silver Arrows have had five one-twos from five races and are expected to continue that form.

Max Verstappen who, despite spinning at Mirabeau continued to get the most of his Honda Red Bull. He set a time of 1:12.178s on his way to second in FP1 only behind Hamilton. It was a different story for Pierre Gasly who finished the session P6.

Ferrari meanwhile didn’t make any inroads into the leaders as Leclerc and Vettel finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Further down the field, Nico Hulkenberg showed some signs of a Renault resurgence as he finished seventh with Magnussen eighth despite the earlier problems. Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo completed the top ten.

Williams didn’t finish last as they beat Lance Stroll who was on hard tyres and Carlos Sainz who had a battery issue.