F1 Rumor Roundup: Red Bull money, Ferrari aero and a Bahrain fight.

As always, make of them what you will...

A number of teams are rumored to be so upset by Red Bull breaking the FOTA agreement on spending that they are questioning why the team is part of an organization whose roles it does not follow.

At Monaco there were, story goes, words between Stefano Domenicali and Christian Horner about the amount on money Red Bull spends on team and personnel (have you seen the floating hospitality center in Monaco?) . As usual Red Bull have a clever answer and "reading of the rules", Horner claimed it's all fine as the team uses external subcontractors...

So Ferrari is mad, a number of other teams are mad, Mclaren has not yet taken a position either way, Marting Whitmarsh being FOTA's president...



Ferrari is looking for a new aerodynamicist, the name making the rounds is current Mclaren, ex Renault, ex Ferrari John Iley. He would step in for Nikolas Tobazis who would then be freed of wind tunnel duties and either free to work on the 2012 car or go fishing depending on who you believe.



Finally, nobody wants Formula 1 in December ( not unless you had it in Finland with the cars using studded Pirelli Sottozero's, we say!). The only guy really standing up for what's right seems to be Ross Brawn. Good Luck to him, there is more than anyone knows riding on Bernie showing his CVC partners he can deliver profits under all and all adversity....

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What, passing in Monaco?

We saw something today what I never thought I would see in my lifetime, an honest to goodness exciting race in Monaco.

Of course it could have been a legendary race but, unfortunately, FIA regulations say tires can be changed and cars repaired on the grid under red flag conditions.

A shame, the reason the race was so exciting today was that you had three drivers, all world champions, on three different tire strategies who ended up within the same second with eight laps to go. To make circumstances even sweeter, the slowest guy, with the oldest tires was leading and the one with the best tires was third, it would have been an outstanding finish.

But, no go, fresh tires meant leveling the grip equation and that was that.

Fortune helped the daring, Red Bull and Vettel overcame a terrible pit stop by switching to a one stopper and nursing the tires some sixty or so laps, amazing. The RB7 is really amazing and Vettel the perfect driver for it. Too bad for Webber, once again getting the short end of the stick and losing a ton of time because of that stacked pit stop.

Mclaren had a rough day, they had the car to beat Vettel but I'm still trying to figure out the logic of a three stop strategy for Button on a track where passing is almost impossible and every pit stop means lost track position. As far as Hamilton, well...call Oliver Stone because it's a conspiracy against him apparently.

Alonso did what has become the norm for him, didn't complain much, put his head down and did the best he could, which is pretty good. He jumped Webber at the start and there was a pretty good chance he might actually win with eight laps to go.

Amazingly, Webber might have won: there was a moment, in the final chaos, when all three of the leaders could have gotten mixed up in that pileup by the swimming pool. it's a miracle none of the three got hit or punctured a tire.

That melee was triggered by "Machete" Sutil who had the brilliant idea to stay on the throttle after hitting the wall and getting a puncture. If Hamilton wants to complain about the stewards pulling in the wrong guy, maybe he should bring up his good buddy "Machete". Can't believe he actually scored points after causing that mess.

Still, all and all, this race did a huge favor to Monaco, simply by producing a good show, finally!

The Monaco Grand Prix

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           2h09:38.373
2.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     1.138
3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     2.378
4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    23.100
5.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    26.900
6.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    27.200
7.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
8.  Heidfeld      Renault                    +     1 lap
9.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
10.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
11.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +     1 lap
12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    2 laps
13.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
14.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
15.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
16.  Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
17.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
18.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.234

end of post

Lewis Hamilton is black

The Mclaren driver made a bid for "racing's biggest twat" title today after the Monaco Grand Prix. If you follow this blog you know how we feel about Hamilton and we usually catch a lot of flack from fanboys. I think today, after what can only be described as reprehensible behavior on track, Lewis showed his true nature, see for yourself...



Lewis could learn so much from a rookie... check out Paul Di Resta after the jump...

2011 Monaco GP: all about the first corner.

Oh what a surprise, Red Bulls were sandbagging!

Regardless of what Alonso may have said after qualifying, I doubt very much Hamilton would have been able to best Vettel's amazing lap, 1:13.554, a new lap record.

Watch the video, it will blow your mind. Figure it's almost ten seconds faster than laps in Senna's time, the ones people go on and on about. There is this current of thought that says that driving a current F1 car is "too easy". Frankly , I question the sanity of anyone making such a claim.

Watch the clip and lots more of our very own photography after the jump

(slow? let it load...)

Tomorrow there are a couple of things that could happen to Vettel, and they are all in the first lap....make that the first straight to Saint Devote. Button, Webber or Alonso might pass him at the start or there could be a big pile up. Barring that, it will be decided by pit stops and maybe safety cars, like every other Monaco GP.






By now you have seen the accidents at the tunnel exit. Liuzzi, Petrov, Rosberg and worst of all Perez.
I can tell you the whole Casino Square went VERY quiet after letting out an initial gasp as replays were shown on the big screen. The time it took to extract the Sauber driver, with the sheets over him really was uncomfortable for all.
There were no news announced, I finally went up to a marshall and asked, he said they reported Perez had passed out but was essentially OK. Relief. I would imagine something will be done about that section of track by next year and now the decision not to let drivers use DRS in the tunnel seems very wise.

How Perez's accident happened is unknown yet, for sure he emerged from the tunnel in the wrong spot, way track left. One thing I thought curiou, you might be able to explain: is it possible there was enough force in the first hit to completely deflate the left, opposite side, tire or do you think it may have been going flat already, causing the crash?










Go full screen, I spent a lot of time getting these shot today, enjoy them to the fullest!

Place du Casino

I'm on the inside of Casino Square today for F1 qualifying, I can't post pictures live but, I'll post updates on Twitter and Facebook end of post

Monaco: Porsche Supercup qualifying

We may be in one of the temples of Formula 1 but you got to love what having fenders lets you get away with.

As you may know, Fridays are free in Monaco so you can pick whatever spot you choose to watch both Supercup qualifying and the long GP2 race. I decided on a spot overlooking the second Swimming pool complex.
It was amazing to see the fast guys turn in early, aim for the end of the guard rail and brush it every time. You could clearly hear it, tshhk....tsshk... From there they would attack the opposite side curb, bounce about a foot in the air and then gathered it all up in time not to hit the far side barrier. Very cool.

René Rast did it best, qualifying his VELTINS Lechner Racing 997 GT3 cup in 1:35.734, a new Supercup track record .

Sight and sounds below, a full gallery and result from today after the jump




Qualifying result
1. René Rast (D), VELTINS Lechner Racing, 1:35.734 minutes
2. Nick Tandy (GB), Konrad Motorsport, + 0.313 seconds
3. Kuba Giermaziak (PL), VERVA Racing Team, + 0.635
4. Sean Edwards (GB), Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, + 0.641
5. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, + 0.710
6. Sebastiaan Bleekemolen (NL), Team Bleekemolen, +0.845

It's all HD so don't be afraid to go full screen for maximum enjoyment!