The Formula 1 circus has come to Monaco and so far, apart from a few gentle brushes with the walls, the whole grid has managed to complete the opening two practice sessions.

The forecast is for rain and what better race to have it at than Monaco, when none of the drivers have raced without traction control in the wet yet. If the promised rain does arrive, the race – I fear – will be won by the most level headed and cautious driver on the day.

Hamilton seems to love the circuit through the Principality and spent much of the day at the top of the sheets. Raikkonen did respond with a flurry of quick laps at the end of the first session and nudged the Brit from 1st place; however, Hamilton was even quicker in the next session and was only briefly knocked off the top of the sheets by Rosberg, who seems to be in great form in the Williams.

Piquet still seems to be struggling with the Renault – Alonso was 1.5 seconds quicker in P1 and then a second quicker in P2. Last year Briatore was very publicly vocal about Kovalainen taking time to get up to speed yet remains silent on Piquet’s pace. I doubt he is as relaxed as he looks but I suspect it is only a matter of time before the pressure of needing to perform further hampers the young Brazilian.

The McLarens do have the measure of the Ferraris for the time being, but as speculated the Scuderia is certainly not as far back as last year. As for the race – well, thanks to the overtaking possibilities in Monaco, much of the result depends on how the drivers do in qualifying. I would have thought, bar a problem or a mistake, Hamilton will take pole, with either one of the Ferraris or Kovalainen lining up alongside him.

However, with the likes of Rosberg showing the pace he is at the moment and the BMWs going well, I will no doubt be completely wrong. (When Hamilton does get pole I’ll delete this last sentence).
Practice 1

Practice 2