Hamilton: No excuses at Monaco

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso headed Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes to set the pace in a rain-disrupted second practice at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Spaniard beat Hamilton by 0.419 seconds in a frantic final 10 minutes of dry running after heavy rain disrupted the session.

Alonso broke Mercedes’ domination of 2014 practice sessions with a daring lap on a semi-dry track.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was third, 0.116secs behind Hamilton.

Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne was fourth from the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Force India’s Sergio Perez. The Mexican’s Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was seventh, with the McLarens of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen sandwiching Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in ninth.

However, Hamilton believes he has “no excuses” for not bringing an end to his pole position hoodoo around Monaco.

In seven previous attempts Hamilton has not once clinched top spot on the grid for F1’s showpiece grand prix, thereby denying himself the best opportunity for victory.

In the past 10 races around the principality, the winner has started from pole in nine of those, with the only anomaly remarkably being Hamilton in his title-winning year of 2008 when he started on the grid in third.

The fact Hamilton is also fourth on F1’s all-time list when it comes to pole positions with 35, and not one has been in Monaco, is another extraordinary oddity. But on the back of four successive victories to finally move ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the championship standings, the 29-year-old knows he has never had a better chance of finally claiming pole for this race.

When the fact was put to him, the realisation dawned on Hamilton’s face as he said: “I haven’t been on pole. That’s true.”

Reflecting on the fact, Hamilton added: “I was on pole in Formula Three and GP2, but yeah, I didn’t even think of that.

“In 2009 I had the chance, but crashed. I had to be on such a limit that day it was a risk, too much of a risk in many ways, and I made a mistake.

“After that I’ve just not had a car to be on pole... although last year I did, but I wasn’t quick enough.

“This year I know I’ve the car, and this year I don’t have an excuse. Let’s see how that then works out for me.”

In fairness to Hamilton, in his first year with Mercedes last season he found the car uncomfortable to drive and encountered issues with a braking system that took a long time to resolve.

Only now does he feel he has a car to his liking, and he has never had a better opportunity to take a second world title.