2007 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix

[Jack_Bauer]

This Sunday sees the showpiece event of the Formula 1 calendar, the Monaco Grand Prix on the glamorous streets of Monte Carlo.

The action got underway today with the opening two practice sessions. It was the McLaren-Mercedes team who made all the headlines, but not all for the right reasons. Fernando Alonso, looking to bounce back from two disappointing results recently, was on fine form in taking P1 in both sessions. His young teammate took second and third on the time sheets, but that didn't tell the full story for Hamilton. Everyone has been waiting to see if and when Hamilton makes his first serious mistake, and it finally came in the second practice session. He lost control under braking into Saint-Devote and skidded into the barriers, ripping the front left suspension off the car. It remains to be seen how much rebuilding the front suspension will hinder Hamilton's progress this weekend, but it's a far from ideal build up to Saturday's all important qualifying session.

Kimi Raikkonen, who has been overshadowed by his teammate in recent weeks, was the quicker of the two Ferraris today. Raikkonen has excelled on this circuit in the past, and he needs a good result here to get his championship campaign back on track. Elsewhere Renault appear to have closed the gap to the BMW team a little on the evidence of today's times. Whether that will prove to be the case in race terms remains to be seen. Elsewhere there were no real suprises in terms of relative pace between the teams.

Practice 1

01 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:16.973
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:17.601
03 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:17.616
04 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:17.758
05 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:17.918
06 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:17.956
07 Nico Rosberg Williams 1:18.074
08 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:18.189
09 Robert Kubica BMW 1:18.675
10 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:18.676
11 Alexander Wurz Williams 1:18.869
12 Scott Speed STR 1:18.967
13 David Coulthard Red Bull 1:19.095
14 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1:19.203
15 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR 1:19.285
16 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:19.321
17 Jenson Button Honda 1:19.332
18 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1:19.337
19 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:19.496
20 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:19.799
21 Adrian Sutil Spyker 1:21.634
22 Christijan Albers Spyker 1:23.235

Practice 2

01 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:15.940
02 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:16.215
03 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:16.296
04 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:16.354
05 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:16.753
06 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:16.784
07 Robert Kubica BMW 1:16.848
08 Nico Rosberg Williams 1:16.852
09 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:17.292
10 David Coulthard Red Bull 1:17.414
11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:17.449
12 Jenson Button Honda 1:17.457
13 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1:17.459
14 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:17.486
15 Alex Wurz Williams 1:17.516
16 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR 1:17.898
17 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:18.086
18 Scott Speed STR 1:18.233
19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1:18.328
20 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:18.662
21 Christijan Albers Spyker 1:18.820
22 Adrian Sutil Spyker 1:19.358

[kingofthering]

Lewis Hamilton is looking like the next Fernando Alonso.... Racking up so many podiums in his first year...

It's funny how CAR predicted doom and darkness for his first season, using Jenson Button's carreer as an example.

[Kitdy]

Practice times are deceptive. Shame to hear about Hamilton though. Hopefully everything will be OK for him - is the car going tobe ok for the race?

[Jack_Bauer]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

Practice times are deceptive. Shame to hear about Hamilton though. Hopefully everything will be OK for him - is the car going tobe ok for the race?

It should be. If you're going to smash a corner off your car in practice, it's best to do it at Monaco because you get an extra day off on Friday for the team to put everything right again.

[Jack_Bauer]

Onboard footage of Hamilton crash already on t'internet - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22...hamilton-crash

Just looked like he outbraked himself, back end got a little loose, and in correcting it ended up way too quick and understeered into the barriers. Oops!

[Kitdy]

J_B, I forgot if there even is third cars this year. Is there?

[Jack_Bauer]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

J_B, I forgot if there even is third cars this year. Is there?

There are no third cars in Friday practice. The teams will of course have a back up chassis and tons of spare replacement parts. It shouldn't be a major issue for McLaren, it wasn't a major shunt. There shouldn't be any damage to the tub, so they'll just need to rebuild the front left corner of the car.

[fisetdavid26]

I must say I am really, really impressed by Lewis Hamilton. Aside from his crash, he's always performing very well.

[Zytek_Fan]

I wonder if Red Bull is going to have a movie livery for the race like they have in the past...

[henk4]

This anachronistic race (car parade ) I will gladly ignore....

[Jack_Bauer]

Fernando Alonso has successfully bounced back from his disappointing Spanish Grand Prix by taking the all important pole on the streets of Monte Carlo. He just pipped teammate Lewis Hamilton in the closing minutes. Hamilton caught a bit of bad luck with traffic on his final hotlap, which certainly cost him a little it of time. It would have been interesting to see how close the two McLaren drivers were on absolute pace, but I'll guess we'll have to wait 'til the race tomorrow to find out. But it was a perfect qualifying session for McLaren, made all the sweeter by a nightmare showing by Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari.

Raikkonen will start provisionally from 15th on the grid after he broke his right steering arm exiting the Swimming Pool complex, ending up stricken at Rascasse in a scene eerily reminiscent of Michael Schumacher last year. After having looked much the better of the two Ferrari drivers all weekend it all fell apart for Kimi when it really mattered. All hopes of a victory for him are gone now, and a few points is surely the best he can hope for here. Felipe Massa saved face for Ferrari in the dying seconds of Q3 by putting his Ferrari on the second row. He'll have a tough job tomorrow trying to get amongst the McLarens.

Giancarlo Fisichella showed that Renault have begun to find some form with a suprising 4th place, followed by Rosberg's Williams and Webber's RBR. BMW will be disappointed after looking so strong all season to end up with only 7th and 8th for Heidfeld and Kubica. The Honda team will be pleased with their improvement by getting both cars in the top ten. However, Button was only their due to a penalty to David Coulthard for blocking Kovalainen in Q2. One suspects that had that incident not occured both DC and Kovalainen would have edged out the Hondas for the top ten shootout, but you won't hear Honda complaining about it!

Further down the grid I guess the big news is self-styled "top three driver on the planet" Ralf Schumacher putting in yet another abysmal performance down in P20. He really exceeded even his own dismal performances this season by managing to get beaten even by rookie Adrian Sutil in the Spyker. How on earth can this man justify his seven figure salary?! He's just an embarrasment at the moment.

So, for tomorrow's race anyone would be a fool to bet against a McLaren victory. They have looked a cut above the rest all week long, and both drivers look absolutely at the top of their game. The only thing that could rob them of the victory would be them shooting themselves in the foot with either mechanical failures or silly driver errors. Ferrari will have their fingers crossed, but you feel it will be a damage limitation job for them.

01 F. Alonso McLaren 1:15.726
02 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:15.905
03 F. Massa Ferrari 1:15.967
04 G. Fisichella Renault 1:16.285
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.439
06 M. Webber Red Bull 1:16.784
07 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:16.832
08 R. Kubica BMW 1:16.955
09 R. Barrichello Honda 1:17.498
10 J. Button Honda 1:17.939
11 A. Wurz Williams 1:16.662
12 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.703
13 J. Trulli Toyota 1:16.988
14 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:17.125
15 K. Räikkönen Ferrari no time
16 D. Coulthard Red Bull no time
17 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:18.250
18 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:18.390
19 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:18.418
20 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:18.539
21 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:18.554
22 C. Albers Spyker F1 no time

[fisetdavid26]

Originally Posted by Jack_Bauer

14 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:16.251
15 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:16.251

I'm guessing Räikkö can't be at two different positions at the same time. I'm a bit disappointed of his results since the start of the season...

[Kitdy]

Ferrari had the edge, now McLaren - it could be a back and forth battle all season. Good Stuff. Come on Lewis!

EDIT:

Originally Posted by fisetdavid26

I'm guessing Räikkö can't be at two different positions at the same time. I'm a bit disappointed of his results since the start of the season...

Yes he can. He is either that good or he turned into his countryman. It's got to do with spacetime.

[Jack_Bauer]

Originally Posted by fisetdavid26

I'm guessing Räikkö can't be at two different positions at the same time. I'm a bit disappointed of his results since the start of the season...

Hmmm, yes that is quite odd isn't it?!

I copy and pasted the timings from another site and should've checked properly. Obviously the one in fourteenth should be Kovalainen, not Raikkonen.

[fisetdavid26]

Originally Posted by Jack_Bauer

I copy and pasted the timings from another site and should've checked properly. Obviously the one in fourteenth should be Kovalainen, not Raikkonen.

Ah, that explains it. Seems a bit more logical now!