Photo: Renault Sport
Stoffel Vandoorne was quickest in the Thursday practice session for Formula Renault 3.5 at Monte Carlo but his achievement was marred by a penalty for failing to respect yellow flags.
The Belgian failed to slow down sufficiently after Mathias Laine crashed out and brought out the yellow flag. Vandoorne then spun and collided with the stationary car of Zoel Amberg, which rewarded him with a five-grid drop for Saturday’s race. The Fortec racer himself claimed that he saw no yellow flags on track, but the testimony from track officials was different.
Antonio Felix da Costa came in second in the practice, ahead of Norman Nato and series debutant Carlos Sainz, Jr.in his first major series session around Monte Carlo.
Mikhail Aleshin was fifth ahead of series leader Kevin Magnussen and Jazeman Jaafar. Nick Yelloly placed eighth on his return to the World Series by Renault, beating Marco Sorensen and Nigel Melker.
Session result
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Fortec Motorsports | 1:24.711 | 24 | |
| 2 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Arden Caterham | 1:24.821 | +0.110 | 25 |
| 3 | Norman Nato | DAMS | 1:24.973 | +0.262 | 24 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz, Jr. | Zeta Corse | 1:24.975 | +0.264 | 24 |
| 5 | Mikhail Aleshin | Tech 1 Racing | 1:24.984 | +0.273 | 22 |
| 6 | Kevin Magnussen | DAMS | 1:25.060 | +0.349 | 23 |
| 7 | Jazeman Jaafar | Carlin | 1:25.066 | +0.355 | 24 |
| 8 | Nick Yelloly | Zeta Corse | 1:25.292 | +0.581 | 23 |
| 9 | Marco Sorensen | Lotus | 1:25.321 | +0.610 | 23 |
| 10 | Nigel Melker | Tech 1 Racing | 1:25.603 | +0.892 | 23 |
| 11 | Carlos Huertas | Carlin | 1:25.859 | +1.148 | 22 |
| 12 | Nico Muller | International Draco Racing | 1:26.016 | +1.305 | 23 |
| 13 | Zoel Amberg | Pons Racing | 1:26.107 | +1.396 | 21 |
| 14 | Christopher Zanella | ISR | 1:26.255 | +1.544 | 25 |
| 15 | Arthur Pic | AV Formula | 1:26.260 | +1.549 | 24 |
| 16 | Marlon Stockinger | Lotus | 1:26.263 | +1.552 | 23 |
| 17 | Will Stevens | P1 by Strakka Racing | 1:26.388 | +1.677 | 24 |
| 18 | Daniil Move | SMP Racing by Comtec | 1:26.391 | +1.680 | 23 |
| 19 | Nikolay Martsenko | Pons Racing | 1:26.419 | +1.708 | 24 |
| 20 | Matias Laine | P1 by Strakka Racing | 1:26.647 | +1.936 | 22 |
| 21 | Andre Negrao | International Draco Racing | 1:26.700 | +1.989 | 22 |
| 22 | Oliver Webb | Fortec Motorsports | 1:26.744 | +2.033 | 25 |
| 23 | Sergey Sirotkin | ISR | 1:26.970 | +2.259 | 23 |
| 24 | Yann Cunha | AV Formula | 1:27.192 | +2.481 | 25 |
| 25 | Lucas Foresti | SMP Racing by Comtec | 1:27.875 | +3.164 | 22 |
| 26 | Pietro Fantin | Arden Caterham | 1:28.292 | +3.581 | 23 |