F1 Grand Prix: Monaco
A brief analysis of qualifying and a preview of the Grand Prix in Monaco.
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Jenson Button and Brawn GP are quite clearly the main talking points of this years F1 season, though there has been recent uncertainty toward certain teams future in the sport due to the proposal of a 40-million-pound budget cap. Anyway back to the race – unsurprisingly the talented Brit, Jenson Button, has once again snatched pole-position, not as comfortably as he as found before as he gained it with a last-gasp lap finishing 0.025 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, and Jenson’s Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello celebrating his 37th birthday with a 3rd place start. Last years champion, young Lewis Hamilton, who was tipped as one of the favourites for this race, had an unfortunate early exit from qualifying when he hit into the wall through one turning (Mirabeau), he had recorded a lap though, which places him 16th on the starting grid.
The starting grid and qualifying times:
- Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) — 1:14.902 (Q3)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) — 1:14.927 (Q3)
- Rubens Barrichello (Brawn Mercedes) — 1:15.077 (Q3)
- Sebastien Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) — 1:15.271 (Q3)
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) — 1:15.437 (Q3)
- Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) — 1:15.455 (Q3)
- Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) — 1:15.516 (Q3)
- Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) — 1:15.653 (Q3)
- Fernando Alonso (Renault) — 1:16.009 (Q3)
- Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) — 1:17.344 (Q3)
- Sebastian Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) — 1:15.833 (Q2)
- Nelson Piquet (Renault) — 1:15 (Q2).837
- Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India-Mercedes) — 1:16.146 (Q2)
- Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) — 1:16.281 (Q2)
- Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) — 1:16.545 (Q2)
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) — 1:16.264 (Q1)
- Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) — 1:16.264 (Q1)
- Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) — 1:16.405 (Q1)
- Jarno Trulli (Toyota) — 1:16.548 (Q1)
- Timo Glock (Toyota) — 1:16.788 (Q1)
Today’s Race
The Monaco circuit is known to be the hardest to overtake on, and is always crowded from the green light until the chequered flag. Pole-postion for Monaco is so important, probably the most important pole of the whole season, as unless a big mistake is made, whether on the track or in the pits, the position should be relatively simple to keep, but as we’ve seen so far this season, most drivers don’t do simple!
Podium Prediction:
- 1st: Jenson Button
- 2nd: Rubens Barrichello
- 3rd: Felipe Massa
Suprises?
This race should go pretty smoothly with not too many problems, but do expect to see a few crashes. And don’t be surprised to see Lewis climb up a few positions to get into a point scoring finish.
Images via Wikipedia
