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

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:15.948		26
2.	Hamilton	McLaren	1:16.216	+0.268	27
3.	Kovalainen	McLaren	1:16.248	+0.300	28
4.	Massa	Ferrari	1:16.292	+0.344	26
5.	Rosberg	Williams	1:16.653	+0.705	27
6.	Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:16.834	+0.886	23
7.	Alonso	Renault	1:17.498	+1.550	25
8.	Barrichello	Honda	1:17.511	+1.563	26
9.	Webber	Red Bull	1:17.798	+1.850	23
10.	Fisichella	Force India	1:17.835	+1.887	26
11.	Glock	Toyota	1:17.942	+1.994	26
12.	Button	Honda	1:18.153	+2.205	26
13.	Bourdais	Toro Rosso	1:18.245	+2.297	30
14.	Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:18.263	+2.315	13
15.	Nakajima	Williams	1:18.274	+2.326	28
16.	Trulli	Toyota	1:18.360	+2.412	16
17.	Sutil	Force India	1:18.360	+2.412	25
18.	Piquet	Renault	1:18.955	+3.007	32
19.	Vettel	Toro Rosso	1:19.176	+3.228	35
20.	Coulthard	Red Bull	No Time		3

Practice 2

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Hamilton	McLaren	1:15.140		40
2.	Rosberg	Williams	1:15.533	+0.393	39
3.	Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:15.572	+0.432	42
4.	Massa	Ferrari	1:15.869	+0.729	37
5.	Kovalainen	McLaren	1:15.881	+0.741	39
6.	Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:16.296	+1.156	34
7.	Alonso	Renault	1:16.310	+1.170	27
8.	Button	Honda	1:16.351	+1.211	45
9.	Nakajima	Williams	1:16.372	+1.232	40
10.	Barrichello	Honda	1:16.418	+1.278	32
11.	Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:16.426	+1.286	44
12.	Glock	Toyota	1:16.688	+1.548	46
13.	Webber	Red Bull	1:17.094	+1.954	39
14.	Coulthard	Red Bull	1:17.131	+1.991	39
15.	Piquet	Renault	1:17.246	+2.106	35
16.	Fisichella	Force India	1:17.251	+2.111	33
17.	Trulli	Toyota	1:17.379	+2.239	28
18.	Bourdais	Toro Rosso	1:17.581	+2.441	38
19.	Sutil	Force India	1:17.176	+3.036	31
20.	Vettel	Toro Rosso	1:18.225	+3.085	38