Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco

"Fernando Alonso had a strong Thursday, running in the top 10 pretty much throughout and ending up 11th and eighth in the two sessions - and second quickest in the wet late on. The Spaniard, though, is getting a bit bored with being asked when that first top 10 finish will come. 'I really don't care about the positions,' he said. 'I want to win the world championship. It will not be this year. This is an important test. If it was eighth, 10th, 12th, it will not change my life.'

"McLaren have no upgrades in Monaco but the lack of straights here is helping the team. 'This is a very low power effect circuit and the engine counts very little here,' Alonso said. 'Very short straights, the chassis is responding well all through the season, hopefully we can put some good times but in qualifying everyone seems to improve and we don't know until Saturday afternoon.'

"Team-mate Jenson Button struggled with brake temperature issues and also lacks track time after a late start to P1. "Monaco is a unique circuit and you need to build up. you can't just go straight out and go flat out. You need a lot of laps and I didn't get them so Saturday morning is going to be very important for me.'"

Image source, AFP

A reminder of the order than with 27 minutes left. Lewis Hamilton fastest with that 1:16.705 he clocked earlier, ahead of Nico Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard's team-mate Jenson Button is seventh fastest. Could the McLarens go well here?

The Marshals are indeed very good as they are swiftly on the scene and wheel away Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari. Minutes later we are green again. Top work.

Tom Clarkson
BBC F1 pit-lane reporter in Monaco

"I was speaking to Charlie Whiting earlier and he says the marshals here in Monaco are some of the best. The reasons he says is that the marshals come here and do it every year, some have been doing it for 25 years and that is why they are so good."

A bit of fun for a Saturday morning, in the spirit of tonight's Eurovision Song Contest, we have been asking you for F1-related song titles. Here's a couple:

Chris Miller: Savage Garden - Trulli Madly Deeply

Steve Lank: For Pastor Maldonado how about Crash by The Primitives?

Christopher: Fernando by ABBA for Alonso.

Red flag as Kimi Raikkonen, on the supersoft tyre, slides wide and smacks the barrier at Ste Devote: "I think I punctured the rear," he says over the radio.

Also don't forget to keep on sending up your suggestions to make F1 more exciting.

We had a great response on Thursday from you lot. You never know, you might even influence the powers that be, as it is all still very much up in the air in terms of which direction the sport is going in.

Send us your suggestions to #bbcf1, text in on 81111 (UK only) and also post them on the BBC Sport Facebook page.

Pastor Maldonado is not the only one to get some new boots on, with a flurry of other drivers strapping on the red-banded tyres, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen among them.

Nico Rosberg goes in the opposite direction, swapping from supersoft to soft.

Image source, Lotus

Lotus: Pastor, red shoes, let's go!

Allan McNish
BBC Radio 5 live analyst in Monaco

"Kimi Raikkonen is 1.2s behind Lewis Hamilton but is still on the harder tyres, it looks like Ferrari might be on some sort of game, we don't know what game because we don't know the fuel loads but we should know what sort of game in the next 30 minutes."

Kimi Raikkonen is going well on the soft compound tyre, he's lapped just 1.3s slower than Lewis Hamilton's time on the supersofts and is currently in P3 with 1:18.092.

"I think we should box and try the other tyres," he says over team radio.

Jennie Gow
BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporter in Monaco

"I am on Max Verstappen watch and came down to look at the chicane, he just made a bit of mistake, a big lock-up, and is over the bumps but you have to learn how not to do it, to know how to do it."

Image source, AFP

Even faster from Lewis Hamilton as he swoops his way around the tight circuit in 1:16.705, that's 0.053s faster than his FP2 timesheet topping time from last year.

Meanwhile. Fernando Alonso, on the soft tyres, is 14th fastest with his first time effort - 1:19.835.

Image source, Getty Images

It looks like a flyaway visit to Cannes on Thursday night has not had a negative impact on Lewis Hamilton, he's bang on it. Speaking of Hamilton's visit to the film festival, here is a little insight into what the other drivers got up to, with having Friday off...

Image source, Nicop Rosberg

...Hamilton's team-mate spent Friday playing five-a-side football....

Image source, Toro Rosso

...too young to rent a car, so Max Verstappen spent the day on a boat.

Image source, AFP

Things are a changing on the timesheet, the only constant being Lewis Hamilton in P1.

He's purple through all three sectors and improves with a 1:17.021. Nico Rosberg leaps up to P2, eight tenths of a second slower than his team-mate.

Daniil Kvyat, meanwhile, is third fastest with 1:18.681.

A bit of fun for a Saturday morning, in the spirit of tonight's Eurovision Song Contest, we have been asking you for F1-related song titles. Here's a couple:

Dan Pearson: MC Lewis 'hammer' time - You can't touch this (he sings it to Nico every week)

Xavier Davis: Push The (Jenson) Button.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco

"Nico Rosberg blamed traffic for a disjointed day on Thursday and said he 'didn't get it all together'. In truth, though, the 0.7secs gap between himself and Hamilton on second practice looked representative on the day of the way the pair were driving.

"An example was in the early laps of first practice, when Hamilton was seconds clear of the field, and Rosberg clipped the wall at Tabac on the next lap. A coincidence? Perhaps. But it was hard to get away from the impression that Rosberg was chasing a moving target.

"The German is good around the streets, though, so will be expected to rebound strongly on Saturday. Team boss Toto Wolff said he expected an 'intense battle' between the two drivers through the weekend."

Bosh. No messing about from Lewis Hamilton as the world champion goes round in 1:19.074 on the supersoft tyre, straight into P1 and two seconds faster than Sergio Perez in P2, ahead of Pastor Maldonado and Carlos Sainz.

Nico Rosberg takes things a little easier than his Mercedes team-mate, posting a modest 1:26.342.

No surprise to see drivers immediately getting a first timed lap under their belts as Carlos Sainz gets up and running with a 1:23.3987. He is immediately bumped down to P2 by his team-mate Max Verstappen, who clocks a 1:23.846.

Tom Clarkson
BBC F1 pit-lane reporter in Monaco

"Interestingly, Mercedes are straight out on the supersoft tyre, very different strategy to everyone else. It is all about maximising the performance of that tyre for Mercedes, they are not wasting any time."