Monaco is the oldest, slowest, and shortest track in Formula One. The only things that keep it going are greed and tradition. The drivers hate it because there are no opportunities to pass and plenty of chances to crash. In fact, about the only time the lead changes is when there’s an accident or on pit stops.
Speaking of, the sole reason to pit now is to change tires and Pirelli is sending them out on the two compounds most prone to failure- Softs and Super Softs.
And by fail I mean huge chunks of rubber lifting off like Semi re-treads littering the sides of the road with the same danger to following traffic while the driver cruises on oblivious because the stress is on the rears which he can’t see and the steel belted core remains intact and pressurized.
There’s a reason they prefer Mediums.
Other than dodging the debris and avoiding the walls there’s not a lot to it. Because the Mercedes are notably harder on the rubber than the Red Bulls (especially the rears) it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that tomorrow we’ll be reading about their “surprise” victory. Alonso (the most resourceful driver in contemporary Formula One and who is only starting 6th) says accurately he has no chance for victory.
And so we’re reduced to debating whether Raikkonen’s tribute to James Hunt (an obvious movie plug) is the equivalent of Vettel’s obscene naked bikini girl.
Perhaps it deserves to die.
Pretty tables below.
Laps are no indication of anything except engine wear this time. Most of Qualifying was done on Inters, essentially ‘free’ tires.
Chilton gets a gearbox penalty which relegates him to last place in the grid. Bianchi replaced his engine with a used unit. It’s all fucking meaningless, they Qualified at the back and they’ll start there.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Q-Time | Q-Laps |
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:13.876 | 31 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:13.967 | 31 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 11:13.980 | 29 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:14.181 | 30 |
| 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:14.822 | 31 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:14.824 | 32 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.138 | 31 |
| 8 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:15.383 | 29 |
| 9 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.647 | 29 |
| 10 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:15.703 | 29 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:18.331 | 22 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:18.344 | 23 |
| 13 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:18.603 | 13 |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:19.077 | 22 |
| 15 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1:19.408 | 21 |
| 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:21.688 | 22 |
| 17 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:26.322 | 14 |
| 18 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1:26.633 | 13 |
| 19 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:26.917 | 12 |
| 20 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:27.303 | 13 |
| DNQ | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | No time | 1 |
| DNQ | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | No time | 0 |
Driver Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 89 |
| 2 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 85 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 72 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 50 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 45 |
| 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 42 |
| 7 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 26 |
| 8 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 26 |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 22 |
| 10 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 17 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 12 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 7 |
| 13 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 6 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 5 |
| 15 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1 |
Constructor Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 131 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 117 |
| 3 | Lotus-Renault | 111 |
| 4 | Mercedes | 72 |
| 5 | Force India-Mercedes | 32 |
| 6 | McLaren-Mercedes | 29 |
| 7 | STR-Ferrari | 8 |
| 8 | Sauber-Ferrari | 5 |
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The Rush promo.
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His car is failing. He is done.
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Rosberg
Hamilton
Vettel
Webber
Raikkonen
Alsonso
Perez
Button
Sutil
Vergne
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Somebody tell them they’re team mates.
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Done.
Right in the pit entry.
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Rosberg
Hamilton
Vettel
Webber
Raikkonen
Alonso
Button
Perez
Sutil
Vergne
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Rosberg
Hamilton
Vettel
Webber
Raikkonen
Alonso
Button
Perez
Sutil
Vergne
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So they can go longer.
Maybe.
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Rosberg
Hamilton
Vettel
Raikkonen
Alonso
Button
Perez
Sutil
Vergne
Hulkenberg
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Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Alonso
Button
Perez
Sutil
Vergne
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Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Alonso
Button
Perez
Sutil
Vergne
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Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Alonso
Perez
Button
Sutil
Vergne
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Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Alonso
Perez
Button
Sutil
Vergne
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All wings fixed.
Anything ‘that does not impede the race’.
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Lap 45 of 78
Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Perez
Sutil
Alonso
Button
Vergne
di Rsta
Hulkenberg
Ricciardo
Grosjean
Bottas
Gutierez
Chiltont
Vander Garde
Bianchi
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Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Perez
Alonso
Sutil
Button
Vergne
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Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Rakkonen
Perez
Alonso
Button
Vergne
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Rsberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Perez
Sutil
Alonso
Button
Vergne
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Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Perez
Sutil
Button
Alonso
Vergne
di Resta
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Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Sutil
Button
Alonso
Vergne
di Resta
Hulkenberg
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Rosberg
Vettel
Webber
Hamilton
Sutil
Button
Alonso
Vergne
di Resta
Raikkonen