The fans, as always, eagerly took their opportunity to walk the track on the traditional Friday holiday at the Monaco Grand Prix but when the harbour once again resonates with the roar of engines in qualifying every indication is that it will be Mercedes in complete control off those same narrow streets.

Mercedes are still very much coming to terms with the death of their non-executive chairman, the three-time world champion Niki Lauda, and while it has been emotionally difficult, operationally they are as sharp as ever. The team have opened the season with a record five consecutive one-two finishes. A sixth is on the cards.

Lewis Hamilton was quickest in both practice sessions on Thursday, with a one-two in the afternoon, only eight hundredths of a second in front of his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Their nearest competitor, Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari, was a full seven-tenths behind.

Monaco has not been the team’s strongest track in recent years and to put in such a strong performance out of the box on the streets of the principality is an ominous sign. A Mercedes one-two on the grid is unlikely to be threatened in the race. Hamilton then will be hugely optimistic he can improve his record in Monte Carlo. He has won here only twice in 12 visits and has been on pole once. He leads Bottas by seven points in the world championship.

Ferrari continue to struggle to find the right balance for their car particularly with putting the tyres in the right window. Vettel once again said he had not enjoyed the level of confidence in the car he would have hoped and Charles Leclerc admitted the Scuderia were not at the same level as Mercedes.

Which leaves the only real threat at the front and the principal hope of making it a real fight in the hands of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. The Dutchman looked good in first practice – splitting the two Mercedes but did not set a quick time in the afternoon, losing running time when his car was damaged by debris. On track, bravura as always, he was pushing to within a whisker of the limit and the walls. Last year it was costly when he crashed in third practice but if he can keep it clean, an exceptional lap is within him for a debut pole position.

Mercedes will be running both their cars with their halo cockpit protection devices painted red in memory of Lauda on Saturday. A minute’s silence will be held before the race and F1 has invited a selection of Lauda’s contemporaries and peers to attend the grid where each will hold a red cap in tribute, when they join the drivers for the national anthem.

They have also requested fans mark the moment during the in-lap at the end of the race. “They can either wear a red cap, display a message on a banner, or simply applaud, while those watching from the yachts in the harbour can sound their klaxons,” the statement read.