FORMULA 1 Live

14:30 Time up, and it's Lewis Hamilton who carries the day. A good show from Nico Rosberg in second with Ferrari pair Raikkonen and Massa third and fourth.

14:28 Hamilton's team tell him to squeeze in two more timed laps, which will take him to 39 for the session. A very impressive performance so far from him.

14:26 Adrian Sutil is stationary near the entrance to the pit lane. He's dinged the curb and that's his session over a couple of minutes early.

14:21 Sebastian Vettel isn't happy. He is over two seconds off the pace and tells his team that driving round here is "a nightmare".

14:11 Regrettably, we're back under way with plenty of drivers going straight back out on track.

14:08 Sweet Jesus! The stoppage allows the cameramen to search out beauties reclining on yachts in the harbour, and my goodness there are some stunners out there. More red flags please...

14:04 Alonso sideways at Saint-Devotte! He clips the wall on the way through, dislodging his rear wing. The wing graduall falls off as he struggles round to the pits, and his rear left tyre isn't looking too clever either. Bit of a nightmare for Renault. And Alonso's debris brings out red flags.

13:59 Nnnyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyooowwww!!!! That's the sound Lewis Hamilton makes when he clocks a 1:15.140 to set the fastest lap of the day by nearly four tenths of a second.

13:54 In case you're wondering why there's racing on Thursday rather than Friday in Monaco, it is because today is a public holiday (Ascension Day) so it's better for the crowds. Mind you, as every self-respecting Frenchman would 'faire le pont' and take Friday off to make a four-day weekend, I can't imagine it makes much difference. Anyway, that's why.

13:50 Boof! Eat my tyres! Nelsinho Piquet spins and duffs his back end into the tyre wall. There are a few bent bits but he is able to cruise back to the pits.

13:42 Three different drivers have gone fastest over each of the three sectors. Hamilton on the first part of the lap, Massa on sector two which is by far the longest, and Nico Rosberg on sector three. Rosberg is fastest overall with a 1:15.533.

13:37 News from Robert Kubica, who has had all sorts of trouble. He complained of massive understeer this morning and now he has a problem with the brakes.

13:30 It is impossible to overstate the importance of qualifying in Monaco. Well, not impossible, but difficult. Nobody ever overtakes round here. If you qualify on pole, that is half the battle.

13:28 Young Lewis has set the fastest lap of the day so far - a 1:15.688 that is six tenths better than the next best in this session from his old mucker Fernando Alonso.

13:14 Hamilton leads the way with 1:16.283 from Rosberg (1:16.916), Massa (1:16.999) and Raikkonen (1:17.042). And there's a bit of safety bollard on the track. Yellow flag. Massa ploughed through it.

13:12 Hamilton throws his back end sideways and comes with a pubic hair's width of touching the barrier. Well, you can certainly say he's pushing the limits of his McLaren.

13:08 Plenty of action in the early part of this session, with 13 drivers having posted flying laps. The fastest of those is Nico Rosberg with a 1:17.638.

13:00 Off we go. It is a warm day in the pricipality, and the sun has bumped track temperature up to 37 degrees.

- Welcome back! It's time for the second session in Monaco!