Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Monaco

Red Bull arrived here with a lot of expectations on them, the belief being that the quality of their chassis and the relative unimportance of engine power around Monaco could bring them properly into the mix for pole position for the first time this season - and thereby the race victory.

Drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen did little to diminish this impression in their interviews before taking to the track - and underlined their confidence with highly impressive pace once on it. A smiling - obviously - Ricciardo, the only man to dip below one minute 12 seconds for a lap, was trying to rub in their superiority: “We want everyone to sleep on it an extra night,” he said. “I expect all three big teams to get below the 1:12s. it is going to be a good fight. I feel we set as much of a benchmark as we could and it is nice to start with these intentions.”

Mercedes, meanwhile, were, as they had predicted, not on great form. Lewis Hamilton said his Thursday had been “OK”, Valtteri Bottas “quite difficult”. For now, it looks as if Red Bull’s biggest opposition will be from Ferrari.

Weather = perfect.

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This is the time of the year when everyone is asking just who will the teams pick for next season?

At the moment only Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen of the top six know where they will be in 2019.

So that is our debate for today.

Who should be racing for each team in 2019 and why?

Tweet us using #bbcf1 and we will post your thoughts in this page throughout the day.

Image source, Getty Images

Some stories from around the Formula 1 world for you...

Sebastian Vettel says he would rather have Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari than world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is out of contract at Mercedes at the end of the season. (CNN), external

Ex-world champion Nico Rosberg says his former team-mate Hamilton is "the best driver on the grid" but does not expect the Briton to win this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.(Evening Standard), external

Championship leader Hamilton says he still has doubts over his Mercedes car before this weekend's race. (Express), external

Real Madrid fan Fernando Alonso will risk upsetting some of his Liverpool-supporting crew by cheering on the Spanish giants in the Champions League final inside McLaren's Monte Carlo motorhome on Saturday. (Sport 360), external

Red Bull's Max Verstappen says he is prepared to gamble and attack on the tight street circuit in Monte Carlo to secure his first podium finish of the season. (Reuters), external

This weekend's Monaco Grand Prix is set to be the fastest in history with the lap record for F1's iconic race expected to be shattered. (Sky Sports), external

For more gossip stories, click here.

While it was a memorable day for some youngsters as they got to meet Lewis Hamilton.

Image source, Mercedes

A number of drivers, including Marcus Ericsson, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley took to the catwalk for a charity fashion event...

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Image source, Force India

Max Verstappen took the chance to chill out on a small yacht. Well, you would if you had the chance wouldn't you?

Image source, .

The Monaco race weekend is a strange one as the opening two sessions take place on Thursday with the drivers having a day off the track on Friday.

Monaco is not a bad place to have a day off in, so what did the drivers do...

And it was a similar story in session two with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen leading the way. Alonso recovered from his earlier problems to get into the top 10, along with his McLaren team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne.

Image source, F1

Daniel Ricciardo was the quickest, with Max Verstappen second but it was a second to forget for Kevin Magnussen, who only got seven laps out there, with Fernando Alonso only having 16.

Image source, Renault

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Monaco

So far, it has been a perfect Monaco weekend. The weather is glorious, blue skies and warm sunshine, the way everyone always imagines the Cote d’Azur to be, and the on-track action has been both fast, and promising of a significant change in the normal order.

Red Bull were on top form on Thursday, well clear of the field on one lap and looking promising on race form, too. Can they hold their advantage rather than falling back in qualifying as they have tended to do this year? If they’re going to do it anywhere, it will be here.

Image source, Getty Images

Thanks for joining us for a busy day. We have the third practice session at 11:00 BST before what is a massively important qualifying session at 14:00 BST.

I'm Michael Emons and will be taking you through today's action and we also have 5 live commentary for you to enjoy as well.

Daniel Ricciardo normally has a smile on his face, and Thursday was definitely a day for him to be happy.

He was the quickest man in both the first and second practice sessions, with his team-mate Max Verstappen second both times.

Were Mercedes and Ferrari hiding their true pace or will today be another day of Red Bull domination?

Let's find out.

Image source, Getty Images