The slim margin between Hamilton and Ricciardo, but did Lewis cut the chicane on the previous lap?
You might not realize it reading UK racing media this morning but Hamilton's brave gamble to stay on full wet tires on a drying track, long after the rest of the field had switched to the intermediate Pirellis, was not paying off.
Had the Red Bull not comically botched poor Ricciardo's stop, the Australian would have been a good 10 seconds up the road and set to win his first Monaco GP.
But you can't take too much credit away from Mercedes and Hamilton, gambling on the one stopper was a bold move and luck certainly favored the brave on Sunday.
Many fans will take objection to the move Hamilton used to block Ricciardo exiting the Neuvelle Chicane. It was a similar move to the one Rosberg made in Spain with the difference that Ricciardo backed off from driving into that cone. Stewards found he left a car's worth of space, Ricciardo probably disagrees. It's racing in Monaco, Hamilton handing the champagne bottle to Justin Bieber before his team was far more tasteless.
Daniel Ricciardo was a bit tense on Thursday morning, he had the latest spec Renault... no wait, Tag Heuer power unit... yet that "plucky teen" from the land of tulips was ahead on the time sheets.
That probably accounted for his bit of a hissy fit towards Kimi Raikkonen, guilty in his eyes of not moving over fast enough. Sorry Daniel, it's free practice not qualifying.
Jules Bianchi has received a number of tributes from the F1 community, the most moving in my book, Vettel's after winning the Hungarian GP in July.
But let's face it, maybe that clip of Vettel's tribute will live on the internet for a bit longer but most people will forget the minutes of silence and kind words pretty quickly.
Since he passed away July 17, a group of fans started a petition on Facebook with the hope of convincing the Automobile Club de Monaco to rename one of the corners of the Grand Prix circuit after the unlucky Frenchman.
That "no shit Sherlock" moment was perhaps the last honest moment from Hamilton and Mercedes in Monaco, everything that came after was pure Hollywood.
Motorsport media seemed eager to buy into the narrative of Hamilton first screwed by the team and then magnanimous on the podium with his proclamations of "we win and we lose together". Some even praised him for his reluctant, no eye contact handshake with Rosberg.
Amazing.
Now, we don't want to say "I told you so" but we told you so. It's pretty clear it was Lewis himself who instigated the idea of a pit stop... in Monaco... when you're leading...with 14 laps to go....
I know, right?
The running over the 3rd place placard, the moping up onto the stage making sure everyone knew he was the victim of unfortunate events, it was all for the cameras.
Hamilton contemplated parking his car at Portier to go straight home and had to be told by Lowe to get his ass back to the grid. I guess Lewis did not realize that when Senna stopped there in '88 he had crashed out of the race, not a podium finisher. The whole scene was jst over the top, a true sportsman would have just put his hand up and taken one for the team rather than hashtagging his misfortunes in instagram.
Mercedes of course is equally to at fault, they should have stuck their plan and never allowed the pit stop to happen.
Wolff or Lowe should have gotten on the horn with Hammy and said something along the lines of "what have you been smoking Lewis, stay out". And they might have save for what happened last year, when Hamilton blamed his loss in Monaco on the team NOT pitting him.
Mercedes took the whole blame for the error after the race. I suppose it would be bad form to suggest, in Monaco, in front of corporate big wigs and sponsors, that the guy you just signed for the next three years at something like $26,000 an hour could make laughably silly calls on track.
Interesting they would be willing to throw the staff, both at the track and in remote locations, under the proverbial bus. Their sole job is to work out every possible strategic permutation.
This calls into question the need for all this infrastructure. If F1 is looking to cut costs, how come nobody mentions the number of engineering staff? What's the point of remote "mission controls" if then this is the outcome? Think of how Rosberg's car was bottoming out in the final phases of qualifying for example, how is that possible? All those computer models and you still cannot set the proper ride height for Monaco. Is it all a show?
Speaking of infrastructure, can anyone explain why this elderly fan seemed so smugly excited and happy right after Hamilton pitted? Because after he was blaming the team as well afterwards.
Also, to clarify, we don't just pick on British media for being Hamilton fan boys, I heard an Italian commentator claim Ferrari were "brilliant" strategically for telling Vettel to get right up on Rosberg's gearbox while Hamilton was in the pits.
Well, it's pretty clear from the video below, Vettel had no clue what was going on (he was weaving and warming tires on the front straight) and where Hamilton was up until the two were side by side.
Ferrari have to thank Seb's presence of mind in that final split second for that second place.
Kids, they get to be a certain age and they'll want to get their drivers license. It's then a parent's duty is to sit nervously in the passenger seat while their brood practice negotiating the streets.
Max Verstappen is still too young to take his driving test and, like many teenagers, had to find a closed off area to take his dad, Jos, for a ride.
Jos, trying to interview his son for the Dutch Sport1, is not too comfortable in the right seat of the Renault Clio RSport. Max is loving it.
I can't think of a greater moment of collective madness as we witnessed today in Monaco, a track where position is king and passing impossible.
Verstappen and Grosjean came together (big cheer for the effectiveness of TecPro barriers) bringing out the Safety Car when Hamilton had a comfortable lead over his teammate Rosberg. Hamilton pits for a new set of tires but comes out behind Nico and Vettel who had made the very obvious choice of staying out.
OK, maybe Bjorn Wirdheim's cock up in GP2 was worse but GP2 does not have hundreds of strategists working out every possible angle, nor a two time World Champion behind the wheel.
Mercedes was hallucinating but Hamilton himself should have had the presence of mind to question such a ridiculous call from the team.
It took nine tries but, finally, Lewis Hamilton will start on pole at the Monaco GP.
It looked like Nico Rosberg was in control of qualifying through Q2 but in the final session the German made mistakes locking up at Saint Devote and that was that.
As for Ferrari, the cooler ambient temperatures did not help them and Raikkonen did himself no favors not leaving a gap behind Sainz on his Q3 hot lap he will start a disappointing 6th.
Ricciardo sounded bullish after qualifying saying they really should have been in third place ahead of Vettel.
Bad day for Williams, some were saying they had caught Ferrari as the second fastest team but today they qualified a dismal 14th and 17th.
Great job by Sergio Perez dragging the Force India to P7 and Pastor Maldonado P9 with the Lotus.
Hamilton has clear road ahead of him Sunday, his only worry that he not emulate his idol Senna's 1988 race!.
There is no F1 on Friday in Monaco, but the Supercups were qualifying for the championship's second race after Spain's season opener.
Here's the official PR from Porsche:
Jaap van Lagen goes full risk to claim pole position
Stuttgart. On the legendary street circuit of Monaco, Jaap van Lagen (Fach Auto Tech) from the Netherlands clinched pole position for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race on Sunday. Lapping the circuit in 1:35.691 minutes, the seasoned Porsche racer beat Austria’s Philipp Eng (Market Leader Te
am) to the first grid spot by almost a tenth of a second. “I’m so happy. Pole position in Monaco is fantastic. My car ran perfectly. I was just two centimetres away from flying off at one point,” said van Lagen. Christian Engelhart (MRS GT-Racing) from Kösching in Bavaria takes up race two of the season from position three. Lining up alongside
him on fourth is Ben Barker (MOMO-Megatron Team Partrax) from Great Britain. Barcelona winner Michael Ammermüller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East) starts from position five ahead of Alex Riberas (E/The Heart of Racing by Lechner).
After dominating Thursday’s free practice, Eng looked certain to be pole sitter until shortly before the end of the qualifying session. Van Lagen, however, put in a last ditch effort on the twisty circuit with his 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to top the time sheet of the 27-strong field.
Van Lagen stated: “At times I was running second, but I noticed I could do more. On my second set of tyres I really let it rip and planted my car on position one.” Van Lagen won the traditional Porsche Cup, a competition run separately to Porsche’s brand trophy series to determine the best Porsche private driver worldwide, and this weekend races for the Swiss team Fach Auto Tech. This is the same squad that Earl Bamber, the champion of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, drove for in 2014. Thanks to his successes that year, Bamber subsequently received a contract as a Porsche factory driver.
The Porsche pilots headed out on to the 3.340 kilometre street circuit in brilliant sunshine. Given that the qualifying result on this circuit is vitally important due to the very few overtaking possibilities, the tension amongst the drivers was tangible. Eng appeared slightly disappointed with position two. “Generally, the first grid row is good. But second on the grid in Monaco is not so great because the track is pretty dirty there. Now I have to see what I can do in the race.”
Porsche Junior Matteo Cairoli (I/Market Leader Team) kept his cool and posted the seventh quickest time as a rookie. “Unfortunately I had someone in front of me on my flying lap. My car ran beautifully, and I would certainly have done better if I’d had a free run,” explained the 18 year old. Porsche Junior Connor de Phillippi (USA/VERVA Lechner Racing Team) starts from eighth. “I’m annoyed with myself because I made a mistake and touched the barrier and had to call it a day after only six laps. The only upside is that I start the race on fresh rubber,” analysed de Phillippi. Porsche Junior Sven Müller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East) drove the ninth quickest time: “In my fastest lap I touched the guardrail and it damaged the front of my car. My session was over after just five laps.”
The race on Sunday over 16 laps is broadcast live by Sky Deutschland from 9.30 hours. On Eurosport, the race is aired on Tuesday from 23 hours.
Qualifying Monaco
1. Jaap van Lagen (NL/Fach Auto Tech), 1:35.691 minutes
2. Philipp Eng (A/Market Leader Team), 1:35.788
3. Christian Engelhart (D/MRS GT-Racing), 1:35.928
4. Ben Barker (MOMO-Megatron Team Partrax), 1:35.949
5. Michael Ammermüller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East), 1:36.096
6. Alex Riberas (E/The Heart of Racing by Lechner), 1:36.204
7. Matteo Cairoli (I/Market Leader Team), 1:36.355
8. Connor de Phillippi (USA/VERVA Lechner Racing Team), 1:36.635
9. Sven Müller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East), 1:36.661
10. Robert Lukas (PL/Förch Racing by Lukas Motorsport), 1:36.726
Despite what you may read on Jalopnik , Jean-Pierre Beltoise's 1972 Monaco win was not BRM's only victory but it was the last for the British team.
Between 1951 and 1977, BRM managed to build only one championship winning car, in 1962, Mostly, British Racing Motors was know for its insistence on insanely complex 16 cylinder engines, in V and H configurations, both failures for different reasons. When they did win the championship, in '62, it was with a conventional V8 in a car instantly recognizable because if its odd, short, organ pipe exhausts.
By 1972, the Mclaren -BRM was not the class of the field but history tells that on Monaco streets underdogs can have their day and, on May 14, 1972, Beltoise won his only Formula One race, as Panis did in 1996 and Trulli in 2004.
Thanks to Alex King for saving this clip. Please note how in 1972 F1 was certainly not what it is today. How kerbs at Monaco were literally sidewalks, Christmas lights are used to illuminate the tunnel. Pay special attention to where people stood at the start on the climb to Massenet.
Great for pictures and, after all, what could possibly go wrong right?
Not really much in the way of highlights on track in Monaco, the real battle was the mental one.
More than just staying in front, what Rosberg was able to do was turn Hamilton mind games against him.
For all his undoubted talent, Hamilton has a fatal flaw: he often misses the opportunity to keep quiet. So, despite his advantage coming into the race in Monaco, he had felt the need to more or less knock Rosberg in the media: how he should dominate Nico. How Nico was born privileged among yachts and hotels while he was born poor and had to sleep on couches (never mind his having a motorsports career nurtured by Ron Dennis since age 12).
Rosberg made his jujitsu move Saturday and Hamilton began to unravel, culminating in that veiled threat to pull "a Senna" on Rosberg.
In reality Rosberg had the measure of Hamilton all week end, Lewis was never faster and ended up losing his cool during the race, blaming the team for not bringing him in just before the second safety car. Later in the race Lewis continued to exchange tense messages with his pit. Finally that bizarre episode with something hitting him in the eye. After the race, the two did not exchange any words or shake hands.
It's not inconceivable that soon we will hear accusations Mercedes is favoring Rosberg because he's German but curious Hamilton was the first to break ranks by using extra power to stay ahead of Nico in Spain.
Kimi Raikkonen (Photo: Ferrari)
If Monaco was a Rosberg track, Montreal has been a Hamilton track so it should be interesting there in two weeks, we'll see if Lewis will just shut up and drive or if he will feel the need to have at Rosberg in the press again. But most of all let's hope the other teams catch up so will not have to hear these two complaining about each other all season.
As for the rest, a real shame Raikkonen's race got destroyed by Max Chilton who somehow managed to run into him during the second safety car, puncturing a tire on the Ferrari.
If Chilton was the pits, Jules Bianchi was the star managing to finish eighth and giving Marussia their first points.
Not a good race for Renault power with Vettel out early and trouble at Toro Rosso and Lotus... though one might suspect Lotus faked a failure on Maldonado's car as a preemptive cost saving measure.
In the end, qualifying for the Monaco GP came down to these 10 seconds.
On the final run Rosberg is long at Mirabeau and has to take to the escape road. Yellows come out and Hamilton cannot, by the rules, better his time through the whole of sector 2, the one that had been his best.
Hamilton is not happy.
Very happy are all the conspiracionistas of broadcast and internet. It took exactly 24 seconds for someone to trot out Schumacher in 2006 and accuse Rosberg of a low blow.
UPDATE: Rosberg's pole stands and Hamilton threatened to pull a Senna!
"I don't know if Senna and Prost talked about it but I quite liked the way Senna dealt with that so I'll take a page out of his book," Hamilton has said to Jennie Gow of BBC 5Live
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m15.989s
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m16.048s +0.059s
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m16.384s +0.395s
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m16.547s +0.558s
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m16.686s +0.697s
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m17.389s +1.400s
7. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m17.540s +1.551s
8. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m17.555s +1.566s
9. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m18.090s +2.101s
10. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m18.327s +2.338s
Q3 cut-off time: 1m17.755s **
11. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m17.846s +1.492s
12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m17.988s +1.634s
13. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m18.082s +1.728s
14. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m18.196s +1.842s
15. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m18.356s +2.002s
16. Felipe Massa Williams-Renault
Q2 cut-off time: 1m18.616s*
17. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m18.741s +1.184s
18. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m18.745s +1.188s
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m19.332s +1.775s
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m19.928s +2.371s
21. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m20.133s +2.576s
22. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m21.732s +4.175s
107 per cent time: 1m22.985s
* Gap to fastest in Q1
** Gap to fastest in Q2
1982 was an odd year in F1, Turbos were making their presence felt but the technology of the day was ground effect.
Cars had very short noses and long side pods. One look at cars like the Renault RE30B or the Brabham BT49 and you can see the folly of putting a good portion of the driver's body ahead of the front axle. Crazy and deadly.
The other requirement of ground effect cassis were incredibly stiff suspensions to keep the ride height as constant as possible. In a bumpy and damp situation like developed in Monaco that year, those cars must have been close to un-drivable.
Towards the end of the race as rain began to fall, it was one leader after another falling victim of either evil handling or fuel consumption: Arnoux, Prost, Pironi, de Cesaris, Daly. Of the twenty starters only five crossed the finish line.
James Hunt commenting for the BBC at one point says: "we've got this ridiculous situation where we're all sitting by the start-finish line waiting for a winner to come past and we don't seem to be getting one!"
The eventual winner was Riccardo Patrese in a Brabham, second was Pironi in the out of gas Ferrari and third deCesaris in the out of gas Alfa Romeo.
It would not be GP2 in Monaco without some sort of Maldonado inspired shenanigans....yup, pretty much the entire field got stuck at the hairpin.
Also, I wonder if any of the F1 boys will try Stefano Coletti's move to pass where nobody expected. The move between Rascasse and Noghes worked twice, brilliantly for Coletti putting him up to second place...but then his luck ran out.
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Jolyon Palmer DAMS 1h38m31.193s
2. Mitch Evans Russian Time +0.427s
3. Felipe Nasr Carlin +0.653s
4. Johnny Cecotto Jr Trident +2.175s
5. Sergio Canamasas Trident +2.884s
6. Arthur Pic Campos +6.187s
7. Rio Haryanto Caterham +8.718s
8. Stephane Richelmi DAMS +9.594s
9. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Rapax +9.785s
10. Tio Ellinas MP +10.187s
11. Daniel de Jong MP +10.689s
12. Raffaele Marciello Racing Engineering +11.727s
13. Conor Daly Lazarus +12.291s
14. Stoffel Vandoorne ART +12.705s
15. Kimiya Sato Campos +26.761s
16. Alexander Rossi Caterham +29.166s
17. Nathanael Berthon Lazarus +56.107s
Retirements:
Artem Markelov Russian Time 35 laps
Rene Binder Arden 35 laps
Simon Trummer Rapax 31 laps
Stefano Coletti Racing Engineering 31 laps
Takuya Izawa ART 31 laps
Julian Leal Carlin 24 laps
Andre Negrao Arden 11 laps
Daniel Abt Hilmer 9 laps
Facu Regalia Hilmer 0 laps
Fascinating about Monaco how qualifying can depend so much on chance, say Lewis "I slept on my dad's couch in Stevenage" Hamilton and Nico "Grew up with jets and hotels" Rosberg can't find a good gap, and they really could be off the front row.
Today, on a drying track in the second qualifying session, it happened and it was Ferrari not Mercedes on top and by a healthy 4/10th.
Of course the one that counts is Saturday and, unfortunately for the spectacle, there is no more rain predicted for qualifying or the race.
Maybe Maldonado will stuff it at a crucial moment and keep the Mercs from starting first!
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m18.482s 15
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m18.901s +0.419s 12
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m19.017s +0.535s 15
4. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m19.351s +0.869s 14
5. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m19.421s +0.939s 9
6. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m19.668s +1.186s 9
7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m19.712s +1.230s 10
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m19.721s +1.239s 16
9. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m19.779s +1.297s 11
10. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m20.230s +1.748s 16
11. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m20.394s +1.912s 8
12. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m20.622s +2.140s 13
13. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m20.811s +2.329s 8
14. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m20.977s +2.495s 7
15. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.467s +2.985s 8
16. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m21.700s +3.218s 6
17. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m21.924s +3.442s 6
18. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m21.937s +3.455s 13
19. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m22.683s +4.201s 13
20. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m22.862s +4.380s 11
21. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m23.164s +4.682s 6
22. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m45.509s +27.027s 4
Few surprises after the first practice session in Monaco. Hamilton just 3/100th ahead of Rosberg with Daniel Ricciardo in third by 2/10th, encouraging for Red Bull.
Alonso is ahead of Vettel, both are within 7/10th of the Mercedes which is what passes for good these days.
There has been a bit of a dustup with Alonso. Some corners of the racing media interpreted his stated frustration with a "lack of support from some friends" as referring to Ferrari and foreshadowing a move to Mercedes. Others say what he was referring to were some in the Spanish press who had been critical of him. For their part Ferrari felt the need to put out a statement from Luca di Montezemolo praising Alonso more than Mercedes bosses have in recent weeks.
Alonso has a contract with Ferrari though 2016 but it's not known if it includes any performance clauses. Mind games.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m18.271s 32
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m18.303s +0.032s 31
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m18.506s +0.235s 37
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m18.930s +0.659s 31
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m19.043s +0.772s 33
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m19.467s +1.196s 31
7. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m19.494s +1.223s 31
8. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m19.666s +1.395s 29
9. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m19.789s +1.518s 29
10. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m19.856s +1.585s 38
11. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m20.033s +1.762s 35
12. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m20.118s +1.847s 33
13. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m20.207s +1.936s 33
14. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m20.241s +1.970s 38
15. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m20.260s +1.989s 36
16. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m20.517s +2.246s 25
17. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m20.736s +2.465s 18
18. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m20.914s +2.643s 37
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m21.310s +3.039s 27
20. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m22.063s +3.792s 40
21. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m22.492s +4.221s 38
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m25.817s +7.546s 7
There is not way around it: even if Monaco is the track that, in theory, puts the least amount of stress on tires and where passing is so difficult Perez with half a front wing gone could keep cars behind at bay for two laps, implications of the so called "secret" Pirelli test with Mercedes after Barcelona loom large.
Not to take too much away from Nico Rosberg, he's been consistently fast and Mercedes were strong in Monaco even last year. Nico drove a great race despite the two safety cars and the red flag. But the tire test, conducted using the 2013 W04 chassis just stinks.
Mercedes is not the only team who got a "special" Pirelli test this season, Ferrari had one after Bahrain but, it was with a 2010 chassis. The Mercedes test was with the current 2013 car, in part with development rubber and in part, and crucially with new "Canada spec" revised Pirellis. For as much as Pirelli and some parts of the motoring press might call it a teacup tempest, it's still 1000 km in a current car. Giorgio Piola had commented Mercedes would run a revised suspension for Monaco and perhaps their improved tire wear comes from that if indeed they used it. What's unknown is if they used the Pirelli session to test their own new components.
As for the rest of the race, we saw Ferrari struggle badly with Massa's bizarre doppelgänger crashes and Alonso forced to settle for the long game, in the end gaining a few points on Raikkonen and losing a few to Hamilton and Vettel.
Perez and Sutil were the joker in the Monaco deck. Perez drove, appropriately I suppose, like someone who has nothing to lose, because he doesn't : his funding seems secure and Mclaren needs him more than Button for the immediate future. His tactic of "I'm going, you either move or we both crash" worked better with "gentleman" Jenson and Alonso than with Raikkonen who ended up with a warning from the FIA.
"Machete" Sutil had a fine race as did Vergne. Vettel and Webber just cruised along, Vettel catching a lucky break with the first safety car. Hamilton either sacrificed his race or was sacrificed by the team, not sure which.
But all this is meaningless if "testgate" is not resolved properly, there are rumors of an exclusion for Mercedes from the Canadian GP!
Nico Rosberg beat his tMercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton to pole in Monaco in a exciting wet dry qualifying session. It's the third consecutive pole for Rosberg, fourth consecutive for the German team.
Second row is all Red Bull with Vettel in front of Webber ahead of Raikkonen and Alonso in P5 and 6.
Disappointment for Ferrari with Alonso starting behind all his direct adversaries for the championship and with Massa missing qualifying because of his morning crash having to start from the back.
Tires are not expected to be much of a factor in Monaco so it will all be about the start, safety cars and strategy.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m13.876s
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m13.967s + 0.091s
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m13.980s + 0.104s
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m14.181s + 0.305s
5. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m14.822s + 0.946s
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m14.824s + 0.948s
7. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.138s + 1.262s
8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m15.383s + 1.507s
9. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.647s + 1.771s
10. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m15.703s + 1.827s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m17.748s Gap **
11. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m18.331s + 2.343s
12. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m18.344s + 2.356s
13. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m18.603s + 2.615s
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m19.077s + 3.089s
15. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m19.408s + 3.420s
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m21.688s + 5.700s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m26.095s Gap *
17. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m26.322s + 2.870s
18. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m26.633s + 3.181s
19. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.917s + 3.465s
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m27.303s + 3.851s
21. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth
22. Felipe Massa Ferrari
107% time: 1m29.293s
* Gap to quickest in Q1
** Gap to quickest in Q2
Felipe Massa made his qualifying for the 2013 Monaco GP more complicated after this nasty crash in practice this morning. Massa was approaching the St Devote turn at the end of the front straight when a huge lock up put him into the barriers. It's not clear if it was an error on his part or if there was a technical issue involved but Massa will need a new gearbox and therefore will be hit with a five spot grid penalty.
Massa was not the only one crashing in the final practice session, Lotus' Romain Grosjean, right after turning the second fastest time had his second intimate encounter with the St Devote barriers this week end. Adrian Sutil crashed his Force India just before Casino Square.
FP3 results
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m14.378s 22
2. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m15.039s + 0.661s 13
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m15.261s + 0.883s 17
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m15.286s + 0.908s 17
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m15.311s + 0.933s 20
6. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m15.380s + 1.002s 19
7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m15.550s + 1.172s 20
8. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m15.594s + 1.216s 17
9. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m15.861s + 1.483s 15
10. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m15.926s + 1.548s 25
11. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.958s + 1.580s 23
12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.976s + 1.598s 19
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m15.976s + 1.598s 21
14. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m16.060s + 1.682s 16
15. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m16.068s + 1.690s 12
16. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m16.105s + 1.727s 8
17. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m16.427s + 2.049s 26
18. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m16.933s + 2.555s 17
19. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m17.902s + 3.524s 20
20. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m18.102s + 3.724s 20
21. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m18.706s + 4.328s 22
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m19.228s + 4.850s 22
