Hamilton heads Vettel in first practice at Monaco

F1 Grand Prix, GP Monaco, Monte Carlo Circuit

The protagonists of the Spanish Grand Prix were those that led the first practice session of the weekend at Monaco. Race winner Lewis Hamilton continued where he left off, leading championship leader Sebastian Vettel by 2 tenths of a second.

A surprisingly straightforward session saw nobody create damage to their cars, not even over the new and unpopular kerbstones on the exit of the swimming pool complex. There were some people who got some braking wrong, including Romain Grosjean who overshot his braking point at Ste Devote before spinning back onto the track.

Vettel, Verstappen, Magnussen and Wehrlein were seen missing the chicane, but none in such a way that they ended up damaging their cars.

The result was that most drivers managed to complete a large amount of laps during the 90-minute session. This was also helped by the extremely low degradation on the Pirelli tyres, with even the ultra soft enabling drivers to post quick times after more than 15 laps.

On his return to the cockpit, Jenson Button meanwhile ended up 14th fastest. The Briton looked strong throughout the session, didn't put a foot wrong and seemed to already push team mate Vandoorne, even though opting for the soft compound as he focused on longer runs.