Lewis Hamilton set the tone for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix as he topped the times in a rain hit Thursday practice.

The reigning world champion set the pace in both 90 minute sessions on the challenging Monte Carlo streets with his best time emerging in a rain hit afternoon run.

Hamilton’s personal best of 1:17.192s arrived just before heavy rain lashed the circuit early in Practice 2.

The Brit’s time proved 0.740s quicker than his team-mate and Monaco Grand Prix winner for the last two years, Nico Rosberg.

Mercedes once again flexed their muscle with nearest challengers Ferrari more than a second adrift of the Silver Arrows with Sebastian Vettel third and Kimi Raikkonen fourth.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat gave the Milton Keynes squad a much needed boost by posting the fifth quickest time, while Daniel Ricciardo was ninth overall virtue of his best time set in Practice 1.

Toro Rosso’s F1 rookies continued to impress with Carlos Sainz sixth and Max Verstappen seventh.

It was a particularly impressive showing from Verstappen with the Dutchman second fastest in his first ever session at the Monaco circuit.

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso was eighth fastest while Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10.

Roberto Merhi brought out the red flags early in the second session when he lost control and made contact with the barriers on the exit of tunnel.

Several drivers ran wide at Saint Devote as grip proved to be limited on certain areas of the track.

Result: Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix Practice 2

Position

Driver

Team

Time

Gap

Laps

1

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:17.192s

12

2

Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

1:17.932s

+0.740s

16

3

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

1:18.295s

+1.103s

14

4

Kimi Raikkonen

Ferrari

1:18.543s

+1.351s

15

5

Daniil Kvyat

Red Bull-Reanault

1:18.548s

+1.356s

16

6

Carlos Sainz

Toro Rosso-Renault

1:18.659s

+1.467s

14

7

Max Verstappen

Toro Rosso-Renault

1:18.782s

+1.590s

12

8

Fernando Alonso

McLaren-Honda

1:18.906s

+1.714s

18

9

Nico Hulkenberg

Force India-Mercedes

1:19.151s

+1.959

13

10

Romain Grosjean

Lotus-Merceds

1:19.266s

+2.074s

13

11

Sergio Perez

Force India-Mercedes

1:19.300s

+2.108s

13

12

Felipe Massa

Williams-Mercedes

1:19.560s

+2.368s

15

13

Valtteri Bottas

Williams-Mercedes

1:19.566s

+2.374s

14

14

Pastor Maldonado

Lotus-Mercedes

1:19.577s

+2.385s

13

15

Jenson Button

McLaren-Honda

1:19.606s

+2.414s

14

16

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull-Renault

1:19.639s

+2.447s

13

17

Felipe Nasr

Sauber-Ferrari

1:20.263s

+3,071s

10

18

Roberto Merhi

Manor Marussia

1:22.017s

+4.852s

9

19

Will Stevens

Manor Marussia

1:22.943s

+5.751s

13