Alonso quickest in practice

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix threatens to be one of the most hotly contested of the year following today’s final practice.

Just 0.225secs separated the top seven as Formula One’s big guns all showed what they are made of around the streets of Monte Carlo.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso led the way in his Renault with the fastest lap of the week to date, clocking one minute 15.164secs under bright sunshine and clear blue skies.

Alonso’s hot lap came in the dying moments, deposing current title leader Jenson Button in his Brawn GP by a mere 0.069secs.

For once, Heikki Kovalainen was quicker than his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton, taking third and just 0.114secs down on Alonso, to separate the Brawns as Rubens Barrichello was fourth.

To underline the close-knit nature of the hour-long session, Felipe Massa was fifth in his Ferrari, 0.015secs behind Kovalainen and 0.129secs off Alonso.

Team-mate and 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth and last year’s F1 king Hamilton was seventh, with the promise of more to come.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were eighth and 10th in their Red Bulls, sandwiching Williams’ Nico Rosberg as there was clearly no showboating on this occasion.

That is a reference to the remark made by team boss Frank Williams on Thursday when he confirmed his team are prone to grandstanding in practice, only to fall away in qualifying and the race.

As for two of the other leading teams, it threatens to be a truly miserable weekend for BMW Sauber and Toyota.

In first practice they occupied four of the bottom five places, in second it was four of the final seven, only to go even worse today as they filled the bottom four.

Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli were 17th and 20th, with the BMWs of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld 18th and 19th.