Surprise! Hispania Racing Team will start Monaco. The refs have given them a pass despite Karthikeyan’s suspension problems and Liuzzi’s hard park which prevented them from setting a qualifying time. The update on Perez is that he has a concussion and a sprained thigh. The concussion means he can’t race and unlike IndyCar it’s the driver, not the car, that qualifies.
Hamilton got pretty screwed by Perez’s crash since he was saving tires in the pits and was only able to qualify 7th after half an hour of Red Flag while they reset the track. Then he was penalized down to 9th for blowing off a chicane.
Speaking of tires, when asked why there was so little ‘clag’ or scrubbed off rubber on the track a Pirelli representative laughed and pointed out the dramatically lower speeds at Monaco. This is significant because the projections are that even the Super Softs are good for 23 laps and it’s only a 78 lap race. Likewise non-competitive teams like Scuderia Marlboro UPC should suffer less from their lack of downforce and horsepower.
But they will suffer from grid position, it’s practically impossible to pass and anyone looking to make up positions will have to do it in the pits or by avoiding the mistakes of those ahead. I stand by yesterday’s prediction, “Yet another snooze fest made exciting by flaming chunks of twisted metal which will be made more numerous by the frequent appearance of the safety car.”
Speed’s coverage starts with GP2 at 6 am, pre-race at 7:30, and roll off at 8. I’ll also be covering the Indianapolis 500 today which starts on ABC at 11 am and tomorrow I might have a word or two about Lime Rock.
Pretty tables below.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Q-Time | Q-Laps |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 01:13.556 | 18 |
| 2 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:13.997 | 18 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 01:14.019 | 24 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 01:14.483 | 22 |
| 5 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:14.682 | 29 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 01:14.877 | 25 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:15.766 | 26 |
| 8 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 01:16.528 | 23 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:15.280 | 15 |
| 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 01:15.815 | 21 |
| 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 01:15.826 | 20 |
| 12 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:15.973 | 20 |
| 13 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 01:16.118 | 22 |
| 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 01:16.121 | 19 |
| 15 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 01:16.214 | 22 |
| 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 01:16.300 | 17 |
| 17 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 01:17.343 | 10 |
| 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 01:17.381 | 9 |
| 19 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 01:17.820 | 9 |
| 20 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:17.914 | 12 |
| 21 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:18.736 | 11 |
| 22 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | No time | 0 |
| 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | No time | 0 |
Driver Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 118 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 77 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 67 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 61 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 51 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 26 |
| 7 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 25 |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 24 |
| 9 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 21 |
| 10 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 14 |
| 11 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 9 |
| 12 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 6 |
| 13 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 2 |
| 14 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 2 |
| 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 2 |
Constructor Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull | 185 |
| 2 | McLaren | 138 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 75 |
| 4 | Renault | 46 |
| 5 | Mercedes | 40 |
| 6 | Sauber | 11 |
| 7 | Toro Rosso | 6 |
| 8 | Force India | 4 |
| 9 | Williams | 0 |
| 10 | Team Lotus | 0 |
| 11 | Virgin | 0 |
| 12 | HRT | 0 |
70 comments
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Author
Author
Author
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Must have missed the hot lap.
Author
Author
Vettel
Button
Alonso
Webber
Rosberg
Massa
Maldonado
Petrov
Schumacher
Hamilton
Author
Reports rear tire problems.
Author
Fat lot of good that will do.
Author
So much for tire competitiveness.
Now if you wish to advance you have to hope for mistakes.
Author
Vettel
Button
Alonso
Webber
Massa
Rosberg
Maldonado
Petrov
Schumacher
Hamilton
Author
So, back to 9th.
Author
Vettel
Button
Alonso
Webber
Rosberg
Massa
Maldondo
Petrov
Hamilton
Schumacher
Author
More Super Softs.
Author
Author
A slow stop.
Author
Complete fuck up in the Red Bull pit.
Slow and they may have screwed up which tire goes to which driver which is a disqualifying offense.
Author
Button
Vettel
Alonso
Massa
Maldonado
Petrov
Hamilton
Barichello
di Resta
Kobayashi
Author
First time this season.
Author
Everyone fucking up their pit stops.
Author
Or they’ve got the dumbest team out there.
Pick ’em.
Author
Button
Vettel
Alonso
Barrichello
Kobayashi
Sutil
Heidfeld
Buemi
Webber
Massa
Author
Safety car out.
Lots of contact.
Author
What a fucked up race.
Time to retire Monaco.
Author
car just stopped.
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Leading to Massa’s park.
Schumacher just parked.
diamond encrusted helmets Sheesh
Author
Vettel
Button
Alonso
Sutil
Kobayashi
Webber
Hamilton
Maldonado
Petrov
Heidfeld
Author
Author
Author
Vettel
Button
Alonso
Sutil
Kobayashi
Webber
Maldonado
Pterov
Hamilton
Heidfeld
Author
has over 33 laps on the front tires
Author
Author
will have to out 62 laps on one set of tires
Author
Vettel
Alonso
Button
Sutil
Kobayashi
Petrov
Webber
Maldonado
Hamilton
Heidfeld
if Vettel has a blow out, there is no where to go on this track.
He would still be in 1st over all for championship even if he came in 3rd
Safety car on the track. another mishap. watching vettel’s tire pressure. all 3 leaders got past safely. under yellow flag giving vettel tires chance to cool
Author
Safety Car.
Author
Vettel
Alonso
Button
Kobayashi
Webber
Sutil
Maldonado
Hamilton
Heidfeld
Berrichello
Author
Petrov may be injured.
Ambulance is on the scene. Concern about Petrov.
Race declared finished after 75% of laps complete
75% rule apparently no longer in effect.
crew is fixing hamilton’s wing
Petrov extricated from the car ans on his way to the hospital
Author
Petrov conscious, on his way to the hospital.
when medics reached him. Now conscious and talking, a good sign.
will safety car lead the 1st lap? did they change tires? 5 laps or 6? We do know the race will continue
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