Lewis Hamilton in pensive mood at Monaco GP

Monaco Grand Prix officials have inspected all the drain covers around the Formula 1 circuit and strengthened the vulnerable ones in a bid to avoid one coming loose again.

The tear-offs are a thin plastic film on helmets that competitors throw away during the race once they become dirty, allowing them to see clearly.

According to the FIA’s Race Director Charlie Whiting, it would have been more unsafe for the drivers to dispose of a tear-off inside their cockpits, where there is little space, than out on the track.

However Alonso isn’t saying where in his cockpit they will be kept.

But Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who was fastest in the afternoon session by more than half a second, could provide Hamilton with his toughest challenge in Saturday’s crucial qualifying session.

The British driver eventually finished in ninth place, feeling the right strategy calls were made, but he admitted his vehicle was “scary” in the opening part of the race before the track dried out. We keep trying, we tried a couple, and tomorrow we will find a place. “When we do the pit stop, we have 10 seconds where we are at 60km/h, it is the ideal opportunity to do this”. “If we stick them in the cockpit in different places, it is not the easiest thing to do – especially when you have been taking off tear offs for 20 years of your life, then suddenly you can not take them off, it is hard”.

“If I knew I had Manors, which you can’t overtake around here, I’d probably not have pitted”. Plus the first race being Monaco – you have to stick it in the auto and not let go.

“We are progressing well, it’s obvious from the results, we’re going in the right direction”, he said.

F1 has already undergone several changes in the 2016 season. Charlie Whiting, the race director, immediately visited the scene after the session before the drain cover was fixed.

And his early marker in first practice is just what the Briton, who has not won since October’s United States Grand Prix – a streak which stretches to eight races – required as he attempts to get the fraught defence of his championship back on track.