Monaco practice notes: Thursday 6

(GMM) Contrary to earlier suggestions, Giancarlo Fisichella did not on Thursday afternoon reappear at the wheel of his repaired race car after crashing in the morning.

Renault explained that the Roman simply slotted into teammate Heikki Kovalainen's race car, because the regulations allow teams to designate a driver to use the T-car on the opening day of practice at grands prix.

"I have to say thank you to my mechanics, who did a fantastic job at lunchtime to swap my chassis over," the Italian, who will return to his original car on Saturday, said in Monaco.

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Renault's Kovalainen was the only rookie to not crash on Thursday, but his pace was notably slower than teammate Fisichella, who is an acknowledged Monaco specialist.

"Ultimately, the times weren't quite there today, so we need to work tonight and tomorrow to improve things," said the Finn.

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Red Bull announced on Thursday that an important press call will be staged at the team's gigantic 'energy station' at Monaco at 6pm.

"We will reveal new car livery plans for the British grand prix," a team document read.

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It was a busy day for mechanics in the RBR garage. They had to repair David Coulthard's rear wing and floor, after he lost control at the Loews hairpin in the morning, before hydraulic trouble struck teammate Mark Webber's car in the afternoon.

"When we're on the track we're going pretty well, but we're not always able to run for as long as we'd like," said Australian Webber, who also clipped the inside barrier at Ste Devote at one point and damaged a wheel rim.