Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez led the way in Formula 1's first practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix, holding off Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and teammate Max Verstappen.
Williams' George Russell was the first car out on the sunny streets of the principality, which traditionally open on Thursday for F1 practice.
Sainz was first to set a reasonable lap time of 1m16.241s mediums in the Ferrari.
World champion Lewis Hamilton quickly bested Sainz's time in the Mercedes with a 1m15.858s, before Sainz struck back with a 1m14.457s aboard the SF1000.
Sainz's Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc disappeared into the garage after just 10 minutes with a gearbox issue, preventing the Monegasque driver from enjoying a return to his home track.
Sainz further lowered his personal best to a 1m13.639s and then 1m13.388s on Pirelli's yellow-banded medium tires, leading at the 15-minute mark from Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, and Verstappen.
Mercedes kept chipping away at Sainz's benchmark, Bottas taking second with a time of 1m13.732s before Hamilton approached P1 by 0.016s.
Red Bull driver Verstappen also got involved, splitting the Mercedes cars just before the halfway mark.
Alpine's Fernando Alonso was the first driver to cause a yellow flag, damaging his front wing by understeering into the barriers at the final turn. The two-time world champion was soon able to continue after a front wing change.
Verstappen, who was battling Sainz to find clear air for a final flyer, settled for third, followed by Gasly, Hamilton, and Bottas.
Behind the frontrunners, Lando Norris held seventh in his McLaren, which carries the iconic Gulf Oil livery this weekend, seven-tenths behind Perez. Sebastian Vettel was an encouraging eighth for Aston Martin.
Yuki Tsunoda was ninth fastest on his first ever outing on the streets of Monaco, followed by Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen and Aston's Lance Stroll.
Antonio Giovinazzi was 12th ahead of Alonso, who added a Sainte Devote excursion to his wall tap in a rough first session.
Williams' Nicholas Latifi followed in 14th ahead of low-key Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon.
Haas rookies Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher ranked 17th and 18th respectively, only ahead of Russell and garage-bound Leclerc.
Standings:
| 2021 F1 MONACO GRAND PRIX - FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (1) | ||||
| POS | DRIVER | NAT. | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Red Bull Racing | 1m12.487s |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1m12.606s |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing | 1m12.648s |
| 4 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1m12.929s |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1m12.995s |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1m13.131s |
| 7 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1m13.236s |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m13.732s |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1m13.746s |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1m14.081s |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m14.090s |
| 12 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1m14.106s |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Alpine F1 Team | 1m14.205s |
| 14 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Williams Racing | 1m14.268s |
| 15 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1m14.281s |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine F1 Team | 1m14.320s |
| 17 | Nikita Mazepin | RUS | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1m14.616s |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1m14.801s |
| 19 | George Russell | GBR | Williams Racing | 1m14.881s |
| 20 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | No time set |
Source: Crash.net
-by Amaan Attar
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