UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Kovalainen top but crashes

Rain in Monaco for practice

A rain coated Monaco saw Heikki Kovalainen top the times in the final session before qualifying this afternoon.

The Finn set a best of 1:16.597 and was on better lap in his McLaren when he touched the barriers at the swimming pool complex, damaging his car and bringing out the red flags to clear the debris.

The light rain that had fallen all session had not been enough to seriously trouble the cars, but in the few minutes of no running the circuit became sodden, and all times in the final fifteen minutes were rendered irrelevant.

Lewis Hamilton completed a McLaren 1-2, with Kimi Raikkonen fastest Ferrari in third and Nico Rosberg a promising fourth for Williams.

Robert Kubica was quickest of the BMW pair in fifth, with behind him Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari, while Mark Webber – Red Bull – and surprise of the session Adrian Sutil in the Force India next in line.

If conditions are the same in qualifying in little less than two hours, there is a very real chance of Sutil or another lowly name springing a surprise.

Written: Sat, 24 May 2008 10:25:41