Ferrari’s quest for its first Monaco GP win since Michael Schumacher’s 2001 triumph got off to a good start when Sebastian Vettel proved fastest in Thursday practice.
Ferrari looked strong in both sessions, while rivals Mercedes struggled in the warmer conditions later in the day. Once again the Ferrari looked more consistent in different temperatures.
“I was pretty happy in the afternoon,” said Vettel. “In the morning, I was maybe a bit wild, touching the walls a couple of times, but the afternoon seemed a bit better. Still we have some work to do on the car. It’s more fun this year, the cars are faster, so it’s been a good day.
“It’s only Thursday, and we need to do it on Saturday. It’s good to get into the groove and get a feel for the car. I was very happy the first run in the morning, so since then we didn’t have to change that much. We improved the car for the afternoon, the conditions, were also a bit more like they’ll be on Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s always tricky here to judge, because you don’t get so many clear laps, there’s always traffic, but it seemed OK. We have to do something more to the car to be more competitive overall and in the race, but I think Kimi and myself we were both quite happy with the long run.”
Vettel was surprised by the Mercedes form: “I don’t know what happened to them today, it was bit weird. I’m pretty sure there is a reason, and they will be back to full force on Saturday. It will be close, and also with Red Bull. Around here it’s important to have a good feel for the car, to get the lap together. You cannot always go with the one time you set at the end of the day, but surely we managed to put it together, and we’re quite happy.”
