Alonso tops practice runs in Monaco

FORMULA One celebrated its 60th birthday yesterday with Fernando Alonso's red Ferrari fittingly fastest in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Flying the flag for the only team to have been around since the very first season, the Spaniard dominated both sessions on a tight and twisty street circuit as synonymous with F1 as his Italian glamour team.

The double world champion lapped in one minute 15.927 seconds in the morning and then carved more than a second off after lunch with a best time of 1:14.904.

"On this track a major set-up change might give you half a tenth (of a second), but trusting your driving can see you gain half a second," said Alonso.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was second quickest in the first session, 0.073 slower, while Mercedes's Nico Rosberg pushed his fellow German into third place in the afternoon after losing time with a pushrod problem in the earlier session.

Germany's Michael Schumacher, making his return to the track for the first time since 2006, ended the day fifth fastest for Mercedes, while McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button came seventh and ninth.