Today has been an interesting day, spent doing the incompressible concept of socialisation out there in the real world which is a big and scary place which generally doesn't agree with my presence but this time I was allowed out there. So that was appreciated there might have been bonus points in that but considering there are only 8 points places on offer this weekend the team may not end up on the table. It is because of those folk that this report is going to be a little later in publication than normal, that said the majority of posts this season have been delayed for one reason or another - sky and rehearsals in the early races and other ventures for the recent ones. I know the views of this little corner of the internet are not exactly en-masse and the introduction of sky may be damaging that. Curse you SKY tv stealing my audience, even more reason to be displeased with you.
But rant completed, time to dial things back to the session of the day, which did happen a really long time ago now, and once again the iPlayer came to the rescue as it so frequently has this season, and to try to recover time as it the race itself really isn't that far away now I should probably be a little more concise in this as they normally take a lot of words and a lot of hours to complete and there are not a lot of hours remaining today. The event was interesting and perilously close all the way throughout, where at one point in Q2 four cars within half a tenth of each other. Ultimately we ended up with a temporary polesitter deposed through a penalty. Additionally a second penalty for 10 place grid drop was handed to Pastor Malsonado for having another moment of lunacy in FP3 when it seemed a like a good idea to drive into the side of One-Stop Perez on the run into Portier before binning it in Casino Square later on in the session. So onto the rest of the session.
Qualifying
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| Image credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk |
And this being Monaco everyone wanted to find some trackspace, as trying to manage 24 cars on the shortest track on the season with no room for cars to get out of the way, and the zone of contention is always down into the Rascase corner. Here drivers back off to find some room while drivers behind were piling into the section at the end of their flying laps. In this early phase the first driver to hit this problem was the Marussia of Timo Glock who at the end of his first lap of the session found a rather slow HRT (which is common for HRT's in general) but De La Rosa was running abnormally slow which doesn't make too much sense, there isn't exactly any cars on the track that an HRT is going to catch up to over the course of a lap. As a result Glock ended up 16s off the leading time posted by Alonso.
The session was about to go on a sabbatical for a while as an apparent steering failure introduced One-Stop Perez in the FC Sauber into the barriers on the exit of the first part of the swimming pool result in damaged front and rear suspension setting a rear tyre loose in the process. Something that happens here on the blog a lot during the videography process before the Thursday releases. But the accident that gives Sergio a 100% record of crashing out of Monaco qualifying sessions brought out the red flag for a few moments.
Because One-Stop Perez was knocked out of the session that sealed the results of the first part of qualifying as the remaining six places in relegation were going to be held by the six newer team cars, although division leader Heikki came within a tenth of escaping. Back at the front end of the grid some of the teams were turning to the softer compound tyres to move prevent relegation, considering Heikki was so close. Oddly enough that list of competitors contained the Red Bull of Vettel and Teh Massa who was having a decent day for once this season. At the very front Hulkenberg and Kobayashi were the front runners setting the fastest times on the softer tyres.
With the newer drivers and One-Stop Perez eliminated it was time to roll onto Q2, and it was the Force India of Paul Di Resta who left the lane first followed by the two Torro Rossos as getting to the front of the line is a significant advantage. Therefore Paul set the opening benchmark time but that didn't last too long as Vergne moved into the lead position, but Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes was racking up some significant pace moving half a second into the lead.
But it was time for some more contact this time from Vergne who performed the same manoeuvre we have seen so many times here in Monaco in recent years, cumulating in the accident Perez had last season out of the tunnel. This time Vergne locked up and slid into the barrier removing the front wing and dragging the crippled aerodynamic device round the track at a much reduced speed. A speed which almost caught out Teh Massa who was hurtling through the swimming pool section when he encountered the slowing Torro Rosso who was on the same piece of track as the other car piloted by Riccardo. Felipe danced between the two cars before making the apex of the subsequent corner.
The session stayed green, and Rosberg was gaining friends out front as Webber and Hamilton appeared in close proximity while Monaco specialist Maldonado moved into the top five. Raikkonen and Button were struggling to find enough time to escape the relegation division while in a world of complete change and variance Teh Massa was making a charge at the top of the timeheets for this session, a contrast from his current form of being completely destroyed by Fernando, and his charge drove him right up to the front. While Button still couldn't make it into the top 10, even Vettel came close to also being ejected from the season throwing everything at the lap only secured him 8th position. Down at the very bottom of the top ten Raikkonen just managed to sneak through into the final session on his final effort.
We only had ten drivers and ten minutes to decide the most important qualifying session of the season on a track which is so confined and almost impossible to make overtaking manoeuvres on, making track position for this session equally as important. And it was Nico who was the first to take to the streets from Hamilton and Maldonado, out of the three it was Pastor who set the benchmark time, but it was a very beatable time lingering at the top of the boards. Meaning it wasn't long before it was beaten, and it was Romain Grosjean who did the beating with a far superior time to the Venezuelan's lap. Yet that time also proved to be beatable by the Mercedes of Rosberg setting a faster time on the second consecutive lap on the softer tyres. Webber moved into third position and Hamilton slotted into fourth.
The newer tyres fitted it was time to go for the final run of the session to finally decide who would be sitting on the front role of the grid for tomorrow's (or if this goes on for much longer today's) Monaco GP. It was Raikkonen who made the first improvement but only jumped as far as sixth and Teh Massa who had been going so well earlier on had clearly reached his peak in the last segment and languished down in 8th. Alonso exacted revenge to out qualify his team-mate as has been the predominant condition throughout their pairing in the Ferraris. However it was only by one place, and out front it was Mark Webber who took the top spot, which was rather a surprise considering how off pace the other Red Bull in the hands of Vettel has been all session. But that wasn't as surprising as the pace of the next car that came streaming across the line, piloted by the old geezer in the second Mercedes - the original German Bloke who kept winning things, on many occasions here in Monte Carlo. Indeed Micheal Oh Sch....umacher had planted the car on pole, however it's a false pole as he does have a lingering 5 place grid drop from his accident in Spain so won't be on the front row. Handing pole to Webber and elevating Nico to the front row.
The Bonus Points Championship points winners
Here are the results of the blog HQ vote, and we are sticking to the normal points system and not incorporating this Eurovision thing into the selection process.
10pts - Mark Webber - for getting pole when Vettel has been so off the pace
8pts - Michael Oh Sch...umacher - not bad for an old bloke
6pts - Teh Massa - for being fastest in Q2 and for being a ninja dodging the Torro Rosso cars
5pts - Nico Rosberg - another good showing for the Mercedes driver
4pts - Romain Grosjean - being the stongest of the Lotus team and quick all session
3pts - Fernando Alonso - for being the most sideways through the swimming pool
2pts - Daniel Ricciardo - for ruining Jake Humphrey's hair as he wandered through the paddock area
1pt - The team and some bloke called james - There is your point you may have delayed this process massively but a good day nonetheless
The penalties championship
Following the events of morning practice, Maldonado was handed a 10 place grid drop penalty for being a little angry and ramming Perez in FP3.
Looking to Tomorrow
Well I could spend a long time here pointing out all manner of things for the race in what is now half a day's time, does almost negate the purpose of this document as it will only really be relevant in the time when most of the population will be sleeping but I tend indulge in futility more often than not so I'm still writing it now as it closes in on 11pm at night here. But there is only one thing that really needs to be mentioned in this little section at the bottom of this once more excessive document, and that is that this is the Monaco Grand Prix and therefore there are no predictions to be made. Because anything can and traditionally will happen, from collisions and extreme tyre wear to surprise performances and strategical brilliance all of which will be on display for the 78 laps of what could be the most entertaining race of the opening phase of season
until Canada rolls round of course
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