Monaco Grand Prix practice & debate

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

Live Reporting

Gary Rose

Postpublished at 08:53 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, Getty Images
Speaking of Monaco's residents, this is a 'home' race for a fair number of drivers who live in the principality meaning they could stroll down from their own apartments to the track.
Some, though, still rock up in cars, perhaps to avoid some keen early morning photographers...
Postpublished at 08:50 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
BBC Radio 5 live
There's a little over 10 minutes until Monaco's residents wake to the sounds of engines firing up with 90 minutes of first practice getting under way at 09:00 BST.
You can listen to commentary online via the 'Live coverage' tab on this very page.
Postpublished at 08:47 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, Twitter
It's cloudypublished at 08:47 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, Sauber
Wish you were in Monaco? Well, if you are not, this might make you feel slightly better.
It is a damp morning in the principality after showers overnight and currently overcast, with the prospect of more rain today.
Postpublished at 08:43 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco
"Every Thursday before a grand prix (or Wednesday in the case of Monaco), I sit down with Lewis Hamilton to prepare his column for this website. Normally, he is prompt pretty much to the minute. But not this weekend.
"When I walked upstairs in the Mercedes motorhome, the world champion was sitting with his engineering group discussing the weekend ahead. Twenty minutes later, with the scheduled time for our chat rapidly evaporating, he was still there, and had to be dragged away to join me. That gives some impression of how much winning this race means to Hamilton.
"The last time he won around these streets was seven years ago. He clearly feels his record should be better than that on a circuit he loves, and he intends to do something about it. There is also the little matter of the controversy surrounding team-mate Nico Rosberg qualifying last year, of course. Hamilton is too professional to talk about that in public other than in the most general of terms, though."
Hamilton's new dealpublished at 08:42 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, Lewis Hamilton
The big news in the build-up to this weekend is, of course, the fact Lewis Hamilton has finally confirmed his long-term future will be at Mercedes, after signing a new contract with the team on Wednesday that will take him up to 2018.
The deal is worth up to £27m a year for the 30-year-old which not only means he is the richest sportsman in the UK, but also means he will earn more than twice the sum team-mate Nico Rosberg makes under an agreement he signed in July 2014.
Added team-mate awkwardness...
How to make F1 more entertaining?published at 08:40 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, Lotus
Image caption,
Maybe Lotus have the right idea...?
Tell you what, let's get the jump on the GPDA and conduct our own little survey. What do you think is wrong with Formula 1 and what would you like to see introduced to make it more entertaining?
Send in anything and everything that comes into your head, from the serious to the silly, we'll take it all.
Let us know via #bbcf1, text in on 81111 (UK only) or have your say on the BBC Sport Facebook page.
Are you not entertained?published at 08:38 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, Getty Images
Formula 1 arrives in Monaco at perhaps the right time.
After a pretty forgettable Spanish Grand Prix, the entertainment value of the sport has come into question once again.
A few days ago, F1 bosses agreed to introduce a range of measures aimed at making the sport more exciting, including refuelling, higher revving and louder engines and changes aimed at making cars "five to six seconds a lap faster".
That's not all, though, with the Grand Prix Drivers' Association today set to canvas fans about the sport and ask what it is they want to see., external
Postpublished at 08:35 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Image source, Getty Images
Ask pretty much any Formula 1driver, and the race they want to win is the Monaco Grand Prix.
There might not be lots of racing and overtaking may be difficult, but the tight and twisty nature of the street circuit means there is always the potential for drama. Monaco is also as much about the glitz off the circuit, as it is the action on it.
"Monaco is the jewel in the crown of the Formula 1 calendar in every sense," says Jenson Button. "It's a real test of man and machine working in harmony to hook up the best lap, and maintain that consistency lap after lap."
"Nothing quite matches Monaco"published at 08:33 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco
Image source, Formula1.com
"Monaco: a wonderful anachronism of a race, in which 900bhp Grand Prix cars are wrestled around narrow hillside streets barely wide enough to cycle on.
"F1 has its problems at the moment but, however jaded you are, there is nothing quite like the barely controlled violence, the sense of impossibility suspended, of the very best drivers at work there.
"In the Pirelli era, the race itself has become a bit of a joke - cars trundling around nose to tail, seconds a lap under the limit, to ensure the super-soft tyres can last long enough to do the ideal one-stop race.
"But as an event, still nothing quite matches Monaco."
History, glitz and glamourpublished at 08:15 British Summer Time 21 May 2015
Historic...
Image source, Getty Images
...iconic...
Image source, Getty Images
...glamorous...
Image source, Getty Images
...home for many drivers, the destination for celebrities and the highlight of the year for fans.
Welcome to Formula 1's jewel in the crown - the Monaco Grand Prix.