Lewis Hamilton sets blistering record pace in first Monaco outing

ByEurosport

Updated 25/05/2017 at 10:55 GMT

Lewis Hamilton lapped faster than ever at Monaco as the Mercedes driver and Ferrari's championship leader Sebastian Vettel set the pace in first practice for Formula One's showcase race on Thursday.

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes F1 WO8 on track during practice for the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco on May 25, 2017 in Monte-Carlo.

Image credit: Eurosport

The triple world champion, who can equal the 65 career pole positions of boyhood idol Ayrton Senna in Saturday's qualifying, topped the timesheets with a best lap of one minute 13.425 seconds on ultrasoft tyres.

Vettel, a four times world champion with Red Bull who leads Hamilton by six points after five races, was second and a mere 0.196 slower than the Briton with a time of 1:13.621.

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Both men were inside Australian Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo's 2016 pole position time of 1:13.622 with Hamilton's the fastest yet around the metal-fenced harbourside street circuit.

Hamilton did 40 laps, Vettel 34.

The Ferrari driver is hoping to end his team's long drought in the most glamorous -- and slowest - race on the calendar with a first Ferrari win in the Mediterranean principality since Michael Schumacher in 2001.

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

Image credit: Getty Images

Under cloudy skies, after Wednesday's bright sunshine, Britain's Jenson Button returned to the cockpit as a McLaren stand-in for Fernando Alonso, who is competing at the Indianapolis 500.

The 2009 champion was 14th fastest, 1.529 off the pace, and completed 35 trouble-free laps in a solid performance for a driver who has not been in a Formula One car since last November.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third quickest, a positive development for the former champions, ahead of Hamilton's Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas and Ricciardo in fifth.