Postpublished at 14:11 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, SauberSauber: No more rain, but still an empty track. 20 minutes remaining in #FP2.
Summary
Hamilton fastest in rain-hit second practice
Merhi crashes at tunnel exit, several cars off track
Get involved #bbcf1: how would you make F1 more exciting?
Hamilton fastest in first practice, Verstappen second
Postpublished at 14:11 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, SauberPostpublished at 14:07 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, TwitterSee? This is what happens when we are all left to entertain ourselves for so long...
How to make F1 more entertaining?published at 14:05 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Nigel MacGeorge: If there's no overtaking, there's no excitement, and if there's no excitement, people won't watch. Just making the caravan of cars go faster but still with no overtaking is just rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. When results are no longer uncertain, it's a turn off. How to get more overtaking? Change the aero regs so cars can more easily follow each other through corners and get close enough to have a chance to overtake.
Ben Wallcroft: All cars the same! Simple. May the best driver win. OR, each race, a driver has a different car, so every driver gets the chance to drive in the top cars etc. This will prove the best driver and also the best car. If the top drivers are good, they should be able to score points with the less performing cars.
Postpublished at 14:04 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, LotusThe sun is shining once again and the blowers are out in force to dry the pitlane.
It has also been well over 10 minutes since I last saw a slow motion replay of a seagull flying on the television feed too, track action incoming?
Gearbox woe for Grosjean?published at 14:02 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, Getty ImagesSpeaking of Romain Grosjean, there's potentially some bad news for the Frenchman, who is set to incur a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's race after Lotus changed his gearbox, reports Autosport., external
It will mean he will have it all to do before we've even got to qualifying, with this circuit notoriously difficult to overtake on.
How do the drivers pass the time?published at 13:59 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Wondering what the drivers are up to as they wait for the rain to pass?
Image source, LotusRomain Grosjean is being interviewed...
Image source, Williams...Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa are chit chatting...
Image source, Ferrari...and Sebastian Vettel is staying focused.
Hopefully some action (and an end to my ramblings) will happen before the timer hits zero. Thirty minutes to go...
Postpublished at 13:51 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, Formula 1Andrew is not wrong, with the rain having got heavier in the last few minutes. No need for any fancy weather-predicting gadgetry, a shot of an umbrella covered in big rain droplets tells us all we need to know.
Forty minutes remaining...
Postpublished at 13:48 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco"Properly belting it down here in Monaco now. Not looking great for any more running."
Memorable Monaco momentspublished at 13:46 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Speaking of rain in Monaco, remember the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix?? Labelled "the craziest race ever" by legendary commentator Murray Walker, it was quite something.
Renault's Rene Arnoux led before spinning and stalling his engine after 14 laps, putting Alain Prost into the lead. He looked certain to seal a brilliant win but, as rain fell with two laps to go, he lost control coming out of the harbour-front chicane and slammed into the barrier.
That put Riccardo Patrese out in front in his Brabham before he too, incredibly, spun and then Didier Pironi's Ferrari ran out of fuel and came to a halt. That was not the end of the madness as Alfa Romeo's Andrea de Cesaris also ran out of petrol and then Williams's Derek Daly stopped with a broken gearbox.
"It is ridiculous. We are sitting by the start-finish line waiting for a winner to come past and we don't seem to be getting one," said BBC commentator James Hunt at the time.
Finally, Patrese managed to get his Brabham over the line to win an unbelievable race. The above grainy picture doesn't really do it justice, so I urge you to watch the highlights of it.
How to make F1 more entertaining?published at 13:41 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Davie Miller Manual shift gear boxes would soon sort the men from the boys.
Key Make the wet tyres better, so we can get some action during times like these!
Martin Collins Twin turbo could be an idea also. Equally distribute the profits amongst the teams. More teams so a 26 car grid again.
Postpublished at 13:40 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, LotusSorry, I do Lotus a disservice. They did tweet a more informative picture with that tweet...
Postpublished at 13:39 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Lotus: It's raining.
Postpublished at 13:39 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Want a weather update? Lotus have been kind enough to provide us with one...
Postpublished at 13:36 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Jennie Gow manages to grab Max Verstappen for a quick word as the wait for the rain to stop goes on, and the Toro Rosso man says: "There is no point to drive now in these conditions because the next few days I think will be dry.
"It has already been a good practice for me. I just built it up slowly, I felt good on the track. I like street circuits."
Asked if he was running on low fuel, he adds: "Not really. Everyone is for sure but it [my FP1 time] was not because I was massively down. We just have a good car on this track I think."
Verstappen adds that he has completed 200-300 laps of this circuit in the simulator. Practice to pay off?
Postpublished at 13:32 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
The circuit is empty again as Pastor Maldonado heads in after a pretty cautious venture round the increasingly wet circuit. "It is raining too much," he says.
How to make F1 more entertaining?published at 13:30 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
David Parsons Make crews do stops standing on one leg?! Make cars harder to handle=more driver mistakes=more action, best drivers not best car win!
Paul Beverley F1 teams should be made to drop their lowest scoring driver each season, you'd be guaranteed a fight between team mates then.
Derek Martin Make them reverse the whole race.
Ben Harvey Sporle Need to make sure the 'lesser' teams are getting a fair deal financially. Teams like Minardi were crucial in developing talent.
Postpublished at 13:28 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
During the lull in activity, Tom Clarkson caught a word with former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger.
"I always go to practice to see who is quick," he says. "If Ferrari are quick I put on a Ferrari jacket, Max Verstappen is quick so it will be a Toro Rosso jacket.
"Max and Carlos Sainz are showing the potential of the car and it is fantastic to see those young boys being competitive on a difficult circuit like this."
Postpublished at 13:25 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
No surprises as no-one is rushing back out on to the circuit because of that bit of rain. Eventually, Pastor Maldonado opts to be the one to break the silence and out he goes on to the empty, but damp, circuit.
Postpublished at 13:23 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, WilliamsWilliams: The fans on the grandstand opposite aid the decision as they head for cover. It's raining!
Postpublished at 13:21 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Allan McNish
BBC Radio 5 live analyst in Monaco"The track is open but there is a big black cloud coming across the border from Italy. A few drops will make the circuit pretty tricky but I believe we are going to see some more dry running later on."