Monaco Grand Prix: Get in or go home, on the streets!

It was a case of do or die in Monaco this weekend, with lunatic plunges in to corners, specifically from some of the less experienced drivers in the field. There was very little respect shown to former world champions when it came to passing, as the likes of Perez and Sutil took the fight to seasoned racers like Button and Alonso. At times the race became quite processional, however despite this it was far from boring. It was extremely cagey for long periods, but kept you on the edge of your seat with the threat of exploding in to action, which it did, a number of times.

The big story of the race was the fantastic performance from Mercedes and, the race winner, Nico Rosberg. I have spoken about the very poor race pace of the Mercedes cars and also hinted at the fact that Nico and Lewis might have had the chance to hold the others behind them, around the tight streets of Monte Carlo. Far from that, they showed some very good pace, with Nico finishing the race a good distance ahead of the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton may have come in behind Rosberg, but for his poor luck during the first safety car period. He pitted with his team mate, on lap 30, after Massa had a massive smash on the first corner and the safety car was deployed. Nico Rosberg was able to leave the pits in to first place again, whilst Lewis Hamilton was released in to fourth, the two Mercedes cars split by the Red Bulls.

As to that drama at the front, things remained pretty much the same for the rest of the race. It was further back that things really got messy. It was back around fifth and then down the order that drivers were dicing and taking wild lunges at their rivals. Amazingly, one of the drivers in the limelight was Sergio Perez. I say amazingly because most of his crazy passing attempts were down in to the Nouvelle chicane, where a few years ago he had a huge crash in a Sauber. He had run ins with Button, Alonso and eventually came to grief when he went a step to far against Kimi Raikonnen and caused fatal damage to his own car.

Adrian Sutil flew the flag for Force India this weekend, taking similar risks to Perez, but ultimately being more successful. He managed to finish fifth and continues Force India's great season. Di Resta didn't fair too badly either, finishing in ninth place, just behind the battling pack that Sutil led over the line. Overall, it was a race of cagey and tightly strung processions, pock marked with short periods of high action and high risk. Plenty of incident, plenty of great racing and, thankfully, no rain; a thoroughly enjoyable Monaco Grand Prix.


Full Race result:

1.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	2:17:52.056
2.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	+3.800
3.	Mark Webber	Red Bull	+6.300
4.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+13.800
5.	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+21.400
6.	Jenson Button	McLaren	+23.100
7.	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+26.700
8.	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+27.200
9.	Paul di Resta	Force India	+27.600
10.	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus	+36.500
11.	Nico Hülkenberg	Sauber	+42.500
12.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+42.600
13.	Esteban Gutiérrez	Sauber	+43.200
14.	Max Chilton	Marussia	+49.800
15.	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	+1:02.500
Did not finish
16.	Sergio Perez	McLaren	+6 Laps
17.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	+15 Laps
18.	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+17 Laps
19.	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	+20 Laps
20.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+34 Laps
21.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+50 Laps
22.	Charles Pic	Caterham	+71 Laps

 

 

Monaco Qualifying...

Monaco is, by far, my favourite grand prix. Understandably it is the favourite of many, because of it's atmosphere, track layout and individualism. It doesn't matter how much any of the modern street circuits try (the likes of Singapore or Valencia), they never seem to match up to the legendary Monte Carlo. It is interesting to consider the influence that the Pirelli tyres will play in the race, as cars begin to slide around on used up rubber and get too intimate with the imposing barriers.

Qualifying started as an exciting prospect with rain in the air and more predicted. The opening session, as it turned out, was more exciting than the other two, as driver after driver banged in faster and faster laps. Q1 presented the drivers with a wet track that forced them to opt for Intermediate tyres. The excitement and drama was rife, as the track began drying almost immediately and pole position was traded time and again. It appeared that Q1 was going to be more a case of perseverance and timing over raw pace and precision, because almost every car was clocking up a faster time as they crossed the line. The main story of Q1 was Grosjean's great lap, in a car that had been rebuilt overnight after his shunt in Friday practice. He flew threw to Q2 in fourth position.

Unfortunately Grosjean was unable to qualify for the top ten shoot out and there was similar disappointment for Van Der Garde. He put in a stirling lap, in the second half of Q2, only to be bumped down the order and out of the session. However, Caterham can be pleased with a very strong performance and will look to build on that. Paul Di Resta was one driver who fell foul of poor timing, when Force India kept him out on rapidly deteriorating Intermediate tyres, making him a sitting duck in the final moments of Q2.

It looked to be the Red Bull show in the final stages of Q3, until the Mercedes drivers came to ruin their day again. Rosberg popped his silver arrow on pole whilst Lewis banged in a time that secured the front row for himself as well. The important thing to consider is that passing is extremely difficult on the tight streets of Monaco and the sluggish race pace of the Mercedes may still be able to hold everyone behind it.

The Grid:

1	N Rosberg (GER)	Mercedes	1'13.876
2	LC Hamilton (GBR)	Mercedes	1'13.967
3	S Vettel (GER)	Red Bull	1'13.980
4	M Webber (AUS)	Red Bull	1'14.181
5	KM Räikkönen (FIN)	Lotus	1'14.822
6	F Alonso (ESP)	Ferrari	1'14.824
7	S Perez (MEX)	McLaren	1'15.138
8	A Sutil (GER)	Force India	1'15.383
9	J Button (GBR)	McLaren	1'15.647
10	JE Vergne (FRA)	Toro Rosso	1'15.703
11	N Hülkenberg (GER)	Sauber	1'18.331
12	D Ricciardo (AUS)	Toro Rosso	1'18.344
13	R Grosjean (FRA)	Lotus	1'18.603
14	V Bottas (FIN)	Williams	1'19.077
15	G van der Garde (NED)	Caterham	1'19.408
16	P Maldonado (VEN)	Williams	1'21.688
17	P di Resta (GBR)	Force India	1'26.322
18	C Pic (FRA)	Caterham	1'26.633
19	E Gutiérrez (MEX)	Sauber	1'26.917
20	M Chilton (GBR)	Marussia	1'27.303
21	J Bianchi (FRA)	Marussia	-
22	F Massa (BRA)	Ferrari	-

Spanish Grand Prix: Ferrari back on top

The Spanish Grand Prix wasn't the most exciting race this season, with relatively predictable results and very little incident. The usual suspects performed well, Red Bull having quite a mediocre race, but finishing in fourth and fifth, and Alonso, dominating the precedings. Massa was in close range of Alonso and fought well against the very quick Lotus of Kimi Raikonnen. Alonso ran an impeccable race, extending his lead when he needed to, to give himself time for his pit stop. Really, all the action came in the first few corners of the first lap, which is also, arguably, where the race was won by Alonso

Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, were extremely aggressive at the start and displayed their desire to take the win by challenging the Mercedes drivers straight away. Hamilton succumbed almost immediately, clearly unable to get anything like competitive pace out of his racecar, from the very beginning. He finished in twelth place and will be terribly frustrated to finish ten places lower than what he qualified, without experiencing any incidents or technical issues. Rosberg had better luck holding off his rivals in the opening laps, but eventually he also had to concede to faster competitors. It is incomprehensible how much slower Mercedes are in race set up to qualifying set up. The team are going to have to work hard to bring the race pace in to syncronisation with the qualifying pace.

McLaren were also well off the pace and struggled just to finish inside the top ten. Button was eighth and Perez was ninth. They found themselves fighting with teams like Toro Rosso and Williams, which is a massive fall for them, in comparison to last season. On the plus side, as I've said before, it brings the likes of Williams, Sauber, Toro Rosso and of course Force India, in to the top ten battle. The teams are very close this season and the tyres serve to mix things up even more.

Force India appeared to be racing further down the pack, which was slightly disappointing, as I have been extremely impressed by their efforts in the opening stages of the season. Paul Di Resta put in a good fight near the end, to try and steal sixth place off Nico Rosberg, but it wasn't to be. I just hope they can be back in the hunt next weekend and back to the kind of form they showed in the first four races. All in all, a great and emotional result, for one of the best drivers in the sport.

Spanish Qualifying: Return to Europe

It was an exciting start to the season. Some teams started very strongly whilst others struggled to show their true potential. The first European grand prix, for many drivers and teams, is considered a fresh start and chance to show what their cars can really do. The teams test in the more temperate climate of Europe and, as a result, the cars behave in a more predictable manner and engineers are able to set the cars up more efficiently.

McLaren appeared to struggle with pace, as Jenson Button tumbled out of the second session in fourteenth place. The Force India's weren't quite as strong as they have been in previous races. Di Resta managed to get tenth and asserted himself once again as the team's number one driver. If he shows the same pace in the race, as he has in previous races, he may be able to salvage a good result for the underdog team.

Mercedes showed extremely good pace once again in qualifying, with Rosberg putting in very fast times in both the first session and the second, and Hamilton qualifying top of the order in the second session. They were the stars of the show, when Rosberg claimed pole and Hamilton slotted his car on the front row as well, in second. It's a special performance, but based on the first races, they are really going to have up their game if they are going to convert that performance in to a win.

Bahrain Grand Prix: Wheel to wheel in the desert

The racing was closer than we're used to in Formula One of late and by closer I mean wheel to wheel. There was never much distance between any of the drivers, apart from Sebastian Vettel, at the front of the pack. Vettel was the worthy winner this weekend, in a race that was basically won on the first few laps. He started on the front row of the grid, just behind Rosberg, and by the first corner he had dropped back to third, as Alonso replicated the numerous calm but very quick starts that we have grown accustomed to from him over the last few years. Vettel however, defied his critics, by making two phenomenal passes on two exceptional drivers, launching himself in to first place after only three laps. Apart from the customary position changes, through the first round of pit stops, Vettel pretty much dominated for the race win, whilst the excitement took place behind him.

The real success story, for me, was Paul Di Resta's performance to acheive fourth. I have been praising Force India all weekend and Di Resta showed great resilience all the way through the race, despite losing out to Roman Grosjean in the final laps. It would have been nice to see the Scotsman on the podium, for the first time in his career, but I don't think anybody would argue that it was a great result for him and the team. Alonso, on the other hand, had a torrid race, which turned in to a fantastic salvaging operation, as he carved his way up to eighth place. He was extremely unlucky to have a problem with his DRS, resulting in him having to pit twice in the first eight laps. It was simply another display of his sheer class that he made his way back up through the field to eighth.

The race was packed with small bumps and knocks and sometimes between team mates. Martin Whitmarsh has always been quick to criticise other teams for their in house feuds and the on track antics between team mates. Today he found himself watching his usually-so-sensible drivers fighting rather too aggressively, despite all of the incident and discussion from the likes of Mercedes and Red Bull in the last couple of races. It culminated in Jenson Button moaning on his radio and Sergio Perez actually making contact with Button's rear right tyre on lap 30. Later, on lap 39, Mark Webber had a big bump with Nico Rosberg, which is now going to be investigated after the race. Many Red Bull, and Webber fans, will consider this harsh, but it was a very aggressive closing-of-the-door, in a race that otherwise featured drivers sensibly giving each other enough room all over the circuit. Mark will surely look back and admit that he should have done likewise.

Whilst McLaren looked more competitive today, Mercedes continued to look like they were struggling for race pace. Rosberg tumbled back from first in the opening few laps, replicating Hamilton's start last weekend in China. It must be very frustrating for a team that are consistently qualifying so well. Massa, the only Ferrari driver in contention, really struggled to capitalise on the better fortune he had over his team mate. All through the race he was seen locking up under braking and twice it resulted in tyre failures at the right rear.

My driver of the weekend was Paul Di Resta, with Force India being my team of the weekend. They are going well beyond expectations and its nice to witness the fruits of their labours over the winter. The race was refreshingly exciting, without having any big accidents. The overtaking was unpredictable and brought on by skillful and gutsy driving, as opposed to aids like DRS or KERS. I found myself shouting at the TV screen again, for the first time since last season, so I'm hoping the excitement continues in Spain.

Bahrain Qualifying: The Force of India!

Lewis Hamilton began the day with a five place grid penalty, after having to replace his gearbox as a result of a rear suspension failure. Lewis joined a number of drivers who found themselves looking at grid place penalties, which was destined to make Bahrain qualifying extremely confusing and quite frustrating.

The weekend in Bahrain was overshadowed, once again, by controversy. Bahrain and the Bahrain Grand Prix continue to be plagued by unrest, as citizens clash with the authorities and protests are held against the hosting of the event. Its a difficult situation in The Kingdom and opinions vary across the board. Rather innapropriately the FIA and FOM seem to be of the opinion that racing cars are as important as people's freedom and so the running of the Bahrain Grand Prix is always in the balance. The race organisers regularly make the wrong decision to go ahead with the race, amid the riots and protests, instead of shelving the stage until the problems in the area have been resolved.

In the first session of qualifying it was very much a two horse race, between Ferrari and Red Bull. Force India were once again in the mix and as the season progresses, their impressive form is becoming less and less of a surprise. There were very few surprises by the end of of Q1, but one or two surprises crept in during the second session. One of those surprises came in the shape of McLaren's difficulties, which were compounded by Jenson Button's apparent elation at only just making it in to the Q3 shootout. Perez in the second McLaren car wasn't so lucky as Jenson and qualified in twelfth, outside of the top ten. Force India continued to show good pace and both drivers made it in to the top ten shootout. Dare I say that Force India might be closer to contending the title than McLaren.

Many of the drivers left it till the final moments of Q3 to put in their fast laps. A few of them bailed out of their fast laps right at the end and it was Nico Rosberg who blew everyone away, showing that Mercedes definitely have the pace to challenge the Ferraris and the Red Bulls. Force India didn't quite live up to the expectations of hopeful neutrals, only achieving seventh and eighth. Unfortunately, this is where the confusion ensues, as the plethora of grid penalties means that the lineup will actually be very different to what we saw at the end of the session. For me, the most important thing is being able to gauge the pace of the teams. Force India look strong again, Mercedes look very strong and Ferrari and Red Bull are predictably competitive.

Chinese Grand Prix: a tyreing day in Shanghai

Pirelli tyres played a massive part once again, but excitement is what F1 is all about and Pirelli bring that. If the tyres were predictable, then the teams would all choose the same tyres, at the same time, and we would be left with a relative procession, complete with scheduled pit stops. Approaching the closing stages of the race it became apparent that Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button, each had to make one more stop, to use the soft tyre. Soon after that realisation it became apparent that on fresh tyres their pace would be greatly increased. What transpired was a a nail biting finish, in which Button passed Massa and then found that he had to defend against the Brazilian, whilst Vettel proceeded to hunt Lewis Hamilton down and unbelievably made up around thirteen seconds in two laps. He actually finished just two hundredths of a second behind the Brit, with Lewis only just holding on to the well deserved third podium place.

Sebastian managed to salvage fourth place from the difficult ninth that he qualified in. Webber was less fortunate in his attempt at salvaging something from his torrid qualifying result. As a consequence of running out of fuel in the qualies, Mark was forced to start from the pit lane. He began on the soft tyre, which gave him the opportunity to pit after the first lap and go on to the harder tyre for the remainder of the race. However, he ruined the race for himself when he took a wild dive up the inside of Vergne, where there was a limited passing opportunity, and damaged his front wing forcing him to pit again. His luck worsened fatally when, in his pit stop, his right rear tyre was not attached properly and the Aussie had to retire from the race.

It was a race packed with incident, with a number of drivers making contact with each other. Sutil had a bump with his team mate, Di Resta, on the first lap, which almost ended both their races. A few laps later Sutil then became involved in an incident that was completely out of his control, when Gutierrez came careening down to the final hairpin. Gutierrez took off his own front right wheel and, in the process, caused terminal damage to the rear wing and rear suspension of Sutil's car. Some have called it Karma, I think that's a little harsh.

The race win went to Alonso, who was clearly over the moon about the result. It's rare to see such a reaction from the Spaniard, but with Ferrari's preseason pace being below par, the whole team will be relieved to find that they are still one of the strong title contenders. Kimi Raikonnen had another solid performance in his competitive Lotus, finishing in second. Mercedes looked strong as well, despite Hamilton being unable to hold his lead against the Ferrari's, in the opening laps, and Rosberg having to retire mid race. Their pace looked good and it will be interesting to watch them peg back the front runners in future races. The big success story for me was Ricciardo, in the Toro Rosso, who carried his qualifying performance in to the race to achieve his best finish in Formula One, so far. He finished in a respectable seventh position after qualifying seventh. It seems that it might be shaping up to be the season of the underdog.