May 29 2011

F1: Monaco

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

rustymancuso581

70 comments

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  1. Vettel

    Alonso

    Button

    Kobayashi

    Webber

    Maldonado

    Hamilton

    Sutil

    Heidfeld

    Barrichello

  2. Just bruised legs nothing broken

  4. Hamilton has really been in the frey today

  5. Parked himself, Hamilton still running but damaged.

  6. in the history of Monaco race.

  7. over all his 5th win this season

  8. Vettel

    Alonso

    Button

    Webber

    Kobayashi *

    Hamilton

    Sutil *

    Heidfeld *

    Barrichello *

    * == surprise.

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