It has been an entertaining couple of days in Monaco so far, starting with a mad GP2 opening race which started off with a 13 car pile up at the first corner, causing a lengthy red flag delay. During that time a lot of those drivers involved ran back down to St Devote to ask for their cars back when they'd been craned over the barrier. It was most amusing. Now you would have thought that the top division of cars from the weekend would have been a little better behaved in a simple practice session, and for the most part they were... It all began when Massa seemed to get a little lost, and for some reason locked up and decided that resistance was futile and ploughed into the barrier before turn one. Managing to damage 75% of the corners on the car. A small break ensued to clean up, at the restart Sutil planted it into the wall in Masonet, and at the end of the session Grosjean took an unusual line through turn one which encompassed the outside barrier and removing a wheel - the third time in two consecutive sessions that Lotus had ended up in the armco...
Onto qualifying and there was one scenario that presents an appetising prospect for tomorrow, by placing a couple of cars at the front which are projected to slow down over the course of the race backing everyone up into each other. Because if there is anything that can cause entertainment on a track where overtaking is very, very difficult, is placing a lot of cars in close proximity - not that it helped this afternoons second GP2 race, but F1 is a different monster. It is monster that doesn't often respond well to moisture, and as Europe is encountering all manner of weird storms at the moment, there have been intermittent monsoons just outside blog HQ, it was only a matter of time before a few drops fell on the Mediterranean coastline. However it was only a couple of drops and a minor shower, so Monaco had got off lightly today only forcing a brief stint on the intermediate tyres. But if people were piling into the walls in the dry how were things going to unfold in the damp...
Qualifying
The umbrellas went up at the people were milling around the pit lane half an hour before the first session was due to begin and a large cloud was forming over the top of the track, around Mirabeau and Portier - threatening a lot of rain. But it drizzled and showered a little and then gave up, it was minimal at best - yet of all the tracks that that need some water to make it more exciting, this is not one of them traditionally.
Because that cloud was hovering around the track there was a queue forming at the bottom of the pitlane because no-one wanted to be caught without a time when the rain actually started. A queue that didn't help Bianchi who suffered an engine failure on the climb up the hill stopping in Masonet, so 90s into qualifying and the back row was already confirmed with Massa's car two badly damaged to take part. In the damp conditions the times and the early running order looked a little odd, as Di Resta was up front once the Marussia was cleared away. Then Gutierrez popped the Sauber into the top three, and Pic in the Caterham was inside the top 10, the only sense of normality came forth when Alonso in the only Ferrari with wheels still attached went fastest.
Somehow in the sub-optimal conditions no-one had placed the car in the wall, but the two key run-off areas were getting plenty of usage, the yellow flag indicator was flickering all session, with the majority of the field either going off at St Devote or Mirabeau. Even Rosberg and street specialist Madonado spent some time off track. But in Q1 the attention is focussed on the relegation zone, which Massa and Bianchi already out there was little room for anyone else. Interestingly, no Caterhams were currently out of the session, but that was due to Lotus still fixing Grosjean's car - once the Frenchman returned to the track he went fastest... not bad on a damp track for the first time of the weekend. When the session came to an end, Di Resta tried to make it out of relegation but his tyres were finished, which means we had a Caterham through into Q2, belonging to Giedo Van Der Garde...full points for that.
Just in case the track had dried following the first session, the cloud opened up to replenish the deficit, to make things interesting again for Q2. In a odd turn of events in an ever changing season, as McLaren were at the top of the charts in the damp, soon joined by the Lotus team, Grosjean spending what seems like the longest stint of time without hitting anything. Mercedes though were coming and setting strong times - especially in Rosbergs side of the garage as the German took Q2 pole - and another interesting development that on the drying track Giedo Van Der Garde in that Caterham was running 6th, before slowly starting to slip back as times improved. Changeable track conditions and a driver dependant track can allow a driver to out pace the speed of their car. Something that was emerging at Williams as Bottas was in the top 10, and Maldonado topped Q1 - but fell to the back of the Q2 field.
With only five minutes of the session remaining the track was dry enough for slicks, who was going make the gamble for super-softs first - it was the Caterham of Vand Der Garde capitalising on the good form after Spain... before the wheel fell off. The problem was that in the dry, the Caterham does not have the pace to keep up with the rest of the grid, despite the first dry time putting him 6th. Hulkenberg made immediate strides to take 6th away from the Dutchman, while Vergne went 3rd... because all of the times were changing so rapidly Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton were all duelling to escape relegation. In the final seconds saw Hulkenberg fall from 6th into relegation and Grosjean went down with him. As for that Caterham - it ended up 15th ahead of Maldonado.
For the final 10 cars and the final session, there was no replenishing of the track moisture meaning it was a completely dry shoot-out for the pole position. Raikkonen opened the scoring with a relatively tentative lap, that was immediately obliterated by Hamilton in the Mercedes, who drove the lap as it if it was completely dry - without any damp patches offline. Then Red Bull went fastest, except it wasn't the German bloke this time, as Webber took the lead away from Hamilton... was on as Lewis then took that place back. The second of the Mercedes' joined the fray to steal provisional pole away his team-mate, only temporarily as Webber came back and out-paced the pair of them. Everyone staying out under the threat of that rain to come back,
Therefore there wasn't the traditional two runs with a gap in between them, this time it was continuous, with Vettel now taking pole from Webber and claiming a Red Bull 1-2. It was clear that the top four was to be decided between Mercedes and Red Bull - Kimi and Alonso arguing over who gets to be closest to the top two teams. In the colder conditions the two teams with the biggest tyre issues were leading single lap pace. All change at the front, as Hamilton overtakes both of the Blue cars to go first, claiming another pole for Mercedes, but all was not quite done yet, as there was second silver German car circulating really quickly. When Rosberg crossed the line, he had defeated his team-mate to lead the all Mercedes front row, Red Bull claimed the second row for themselves with a larger gap back to the rest of the field. Raikkonen is the best of the other cars, sharing the third row with Alonso ahead of the lead Mclaren of Sergio Perez. Sutil flies the leading flag for the mid-field teams, and the highest qualifier of those who've been in the fence. With the final row of Q3 headed by Jenson Button and finished by Jean-Eric Vergne.
The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners
After Spain it's nice to have a session where genuine bonus points can be handed out, all it took were some difficult conditions and one of the most challenging layouts of the season, not like we're asking much or anything.
- 10pts - Giedo Van Der Garde - First escapes Q1 beating Gutierrez and Di Resta, but then beats Maldonado the specialist in Q2, very well done.
- 8pts - Romain Grosjean - To crash three times, but on his first lap back in the car with 50s of Q1 left and go fastest in the damp, that's impressive
- 6pts - Adrian Sutil - Lead midfield car, and lead damaged car from FP3 not bad really
- 5pts - Jean Eric Vergne - Great lap at the end of Q2, and a strong overall qualifying position
- 4pts - Nico Rosberg - Pole at Monaco gets points
- 3pts - Charles Pic - Also managed to out-qualify a mid-field car of Gutierrez
- 2pts - Kimi Raikkonen - Leads the battle of the tyre conserving teams
- 1pt - Felipe Massa - For having a most confusing accident this morning
Looking to Tomorrow
The next 24hrs is the biggest day on the motor-racing calender, both the Monaco GP and the epic Indy 500 on the same day is a mesmerising prospect, both events are iconic races based on unpredictability, spectacle and grandeur. In Monaco we have the pair of Mercedes out front, in fact the two teams who have been the most vocal on tyres are in the top four places, while those on faster race pace strategies queue up behind. Fortunately those that are behind are lead be Raikkonen and Alonso - two of the most skilful and precise drivers on the grid, so lowers the chance of a random lunge and the resulting accident. But others will join that queue and cascading events can develop all to quickly, a single car hitting the wall in GP2 triggered a 13 car pile-up on lap one, so things can descend into lunacy in an instant.
However outside the first corner the racing has been well behaved with very little contact, or passing, or anything - so that is the other potential option. Where the lead cars slow down and form an endless and inactive train of drivers not being able to do anything with the car in front. Hopefully it will not come to that, but Monaco has seen both possibilities take place over recent seasons, but this time there is Massa. Starting from the pit lane in what is one of the fastest cars on race pace on the grid trying to make it through this train of slowing cars, we've seen the likes of Schumacher and Alonso have the same problem and go well - so all we can do is wait and let the anticipation grow tantalisingly overnight. Until tomorrow this is farewell from me here at blog HQ
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