Lewis Hamilton was on the pace immediately and was fastest for most of the session as he worked down to 1m 16.216s. With 10 minutes to go, however, Kimi Raikkonen just aced that with 1m 15.948s, to set the fastest time by 0.268s.
Heikki Kovalainen showed his intentions with the third-fastest lap of 1m 16.248s to edge out Felipe Massa, who registered 1m 16.292s for Ferrari. The top four were thus covered by only 0.344s!
The 16-minute stoppage began just before the one-hour mark, after officials noticed the problem with the drain cover on the hill out of Sainte Devote. It was repaired in time for the session to resume for the final 21 minutes.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was fourth with a time of 1:16.720 and Nico Rosberg rounded out the top five in his Williams car.
BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld came to a halt at Casino Square moments after Jarno Trulli experienced a left tire failure at the chicane. David Coulthard of Red Bull also experienced a problem at the Nouvelle Chicane to cut his morning short.
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