A sparkling drive by Lewis Hamilton in the opening practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix served notice that the Briton will not concede his world title without a fight.

Flinging his McLaren between the barriers of the tightly twisting track, the Briton was third fastest.

The 24-year-old finished just 0.389sec behind the pace-setting Brawn GP of Rubens Barrichello which stopped the clock on 1min 17.189sec.

And Hamilton, who has just nine points this term, might even have beaten the Brazilian and second-placed Felipe Massa in a Ferrari had he not been baulked on a fast lap just before the session's close.

Hamilton's performance backed claims by McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh that the team, who have the best record in Monte Carlo, will impress this weekend after a season in the doldrums.

They have an unprecedented 15 victories in the principality and are going for three in a row after Hamilton won last year following on from the triumph of former teammate Fernando Alonso in 2007. Whitmarsh said: "Everybody at McLaren is proud of our reputation in Monte Carlo.

"As a result, we go into the race with a greater degree of optimism than we had going into Barcelona: both Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen enjoy this circuit and we feel our car will be a more competitive proposition here."

Current world championship leader Jenson Button was eighth, his Brawn GP fitted with a new rear wing and suspension modifications as his team sought to fend off the growing challenge from the impressive Red Bull team.

But they need not have worried as the Red Bull of Chinese Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel suffered a dramatic engine failure, which covered the track in white smoke.

The commitment that is keeping Brawn GP at the head of the field in the championship standings has been demonstrated by team owner Ross Brawn, who revealed he has given up the opportunity to support his beloved Manchester United in Wednesday's Champions League Final in Rome.

Brawn said: "I have several offers of tickets but attending the game would simply have taken too much of a chunk out of my schedule."