Alonso sets the pace in Monaco

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Alonso started this weekend's proceedings where he left off a year ago, with the Spaniard dominant in the opening 90-minute session.

While practice is always unpredictable as no-one is ever sure as to the fuel loads being run by the teams, Alonso (one minute 16.973 seconds) was quickest by a considerable margin - with team-mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton more than six tenths of a second off the pace.

The BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld and Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella sandwiched the McLarens from the first of their title-challenging rivals at Ferrari in Kimi Raikkonen.

What was surprising was just how far the Ferraris, who have won three of the four grands prix this season, were off the pace.

Raikkonen, who trails Hamilton by eight points after failing to finish in the last race in Spain 11 days ago due to an electrical fault, was almost a second down on Alonso.

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber and the Williams of Nico Rosberg were sixth and seventh quickest respectively before the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

Robert Kubica in the second BMW Sauber and Rubens Barrichello for Honda completed the top 10, with David Coulthard down in 13th for Red Bull, over two seconds behind Alonso.