MONTE CARLO - World championship leader Lewis Hamilton apologised to his McLaren team for causing them additional repair work on Thursday after his crash in opening practice for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
The 22-year-old British rookie, who is the youngest ever Formula one leader, collided heavily with the barriers at the famous Saint Devote corner after losing control under braking.
He said: "I'm obviously sorry as there will be a bit of work for the guys, Until then everything had been going smoothly, and we were able to set some competitive lap times.
"I had a very small braking error coming into Ste Devote, and the tyres hadn't built up enough grip so I made a tiny mistake. The back of the car slipped a little and that was it - there is just no room for error in Monaco." Hamilton's mistake cost him a chance to clock a faster time and his team-mate defending double world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain took full advantage by dominating the opening day.
Alonso ended up topping the times in both sessions to boost his confidence ahead of Sunday's race in which he will attempt to follow up his victory last year for Renault with a maiden triumph for McLaren.
"We made good progress and the car feels good," said the 25-year-old Spaniard.
"Monaco is a unique circuit with the close barriers and also traffic - it's very easy to get a flying lap ruined, but that is the challenge for everybody.
"I think we are in good shape, and with some more fine tuning during Saturday morning practice we are definitely looking forward to a competitive weekend."
Despite the time Hamilton lost in second practice because of his crash, and in the latter stages of first practice after a starter motor problem, team boss Ron Dennis is hopeful of seeing both his drivers fight for pole position on Saturday.
"Both our cars look competitive, and Fernando in particular was able to complete a lot of running," he said.
"The problem with the starter motor in the first session and Lewis's off in the second practice cost him some time, but we have plenty of data to analyse to put both drivers in the best possible position to fight for pole position."
Dennis added that he was not worried by Hamilton's accident.
"I think it was in the back of his mind that he had two sets of options to try, and he just got a little bit enthusiastic, entered the corner a little bit quicker than on his first lap on that tyre, and had a bit of a moment.
"I'd rather not have a wrecked racing car, but under the circumstances we're pretty comfortable with his contribution," he added.
"He's got a few brownie points still in hand."
As McLaren shone on the first day, Ferrari duo Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finn Kimi Raikkonen remained optimistic despite struggling to match the pace of the McLaren men.
Raikkonen managed to set the second best time in the afternoon, after Hamilton stopped, but neither he nor Massa believe they have shown their true potential.
"We found a good balance on the car right from the morning session and we have completed all the programme we had planned for the day," said Raikkonen.
"As usual, it is too early to draw conclusions as to how the rest of the weekend will go."
Massa said: "I didn't manage to exploit all the car's potential, partly because I always had traffic when I was running in the second session with new tyres. Unfortunately, on this special track, traffic can cost you an awful lot of time."
05/24/2007 17:26 GMT