Monaco Grand Prix 2011 – Qualifying Report

Sebastian Vettel will once more line up on pole position for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix after the final session of the day was interrupted by a heavy crash by Sergio Perez. The young Mexican, in his maiden grand prix weekend at the glamorous Monaco circuit, had a high speed side-on collision with the barriers at the Nouvelle Chicane after losing control of his Sauber in the downhill braking zone. The session was immediately red-flagged as the medical team extracted Perez, who fortunately was reported soon after to be 'conscious and talking'. Although he sustained no major injuries, he will spend the night in hospital and will not race tomorrow.

Q1

The Monaco weekend marks the debut for Pirelli's 'super-soft' tyre compound, which as the name suggests, has even more grip and less durability than the conventional soft tyre. However, degradation had been less pronounced in practice due to the slow cornering speeds of the tight turns at Monaco. During the first qualifying session, most of the top teams didn't feel the need to use the new tyre, with Jenson Button setting the early pace of a 1'17.1 on softs. His McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton managed a time a full eight tenths of a second faster initially, but Button retook the top spot with a 1'16.0, a time not even Vettel could beat for Red Bull on his first attempt, which was three tenths shy. Hamilton then went fastest on a 1'15.9, but the times continued to tumble as Vettel took three tenths out of the Brit, with Button then going two tenths quicker than the reigning champion, and finally Hamilton raising the bar by another two tenths. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, after topping two of the three practice sessions, was strangely off the pace with a 1'16.1, putting him behind the super-soft runners of Nico Rosberg, Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez. Out of the running after Q1 were both Lotuses, Jaime Alguersauri (whose Toro Rosso was impeded by Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber at one stage), both Virgins and the Hispanias, neither of whom ran at all after a huge crash for Vitantonio Liuzzi in practice and mechanical issues for Narain Karthikeyan. The Spanish cars will nonetheless be allowed to race on the strength of their practice times.

Eliminated – Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Jarno Trulli (Lotus), Jaime Alguersauri (Toro Rosso), Timo Glock (Virgin), Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania), Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania)

Q2

After the times set by the GP2 graduates Maldonado and Perez in Q1, everybody was forced to use the super-soft tyres in Q2, though Felipe Massa attempted a run with his Ferrari on softs in the early stages. Mark Webber set the ball rolling with a 1'15.0 for Red Bull, but both McLarens were able to beat that by some margin; Hamilton by seven tenths and Button by four. Alonso matched the latter's effort to take second, but had the position snatched away by Vettel soon afterwards, who came at first less than a tenth away from Hamilton, and then just two thousandths away on his second go. Button then matched Alonso's time to go third, with Massa slotting in just behind in fifth with a solid 1'14.6. Further down the order, the Renaults both appeared to be struggling for pace as Petrov couldn't quite break into the top ten and Heidfeld languished towards the bottom of the timesheet, along with Sebastien Buemi whose Toro Rosso also seemed to be performing below-par. Maldonado and Perez both embarrassed their more experienced teammates at Williams and Sauber respectively by making the cut at their expense, whilst the Force Indias continued their unspectacular qualifying run, never really looking like Q3 contenders.

Eliminated – Vitaly Petrov (Renault), Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Paul di Resta (Force India), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Nick Heidfeld (Renault), Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso)

Q3

Schumacher was first to stake a claim for pole position with a 1'15.0, but his former Ferrari teammate Massa was able to temporarily beat the five-time Monaco winner's lap by a tenth before the German improved by another two tenths later in the session. Before then though, Button proceeded to improve by another nine tenths, good enough to beat Webber, whose time was two hundreths slower than the Brit's, and Alonso who could only muster a time three tenths behind both Button and Webber. Button was then denied by Vettel, who drove another of his characteristic lightning-quick laps, and on this occasion was four tenths faster than the McLaren pilot to snatch away provisional pole. With that, Hamilton seemed the only man capable of doing something about ending Red Bull's so far 100% pole position record, but Perez's accident interrupted his flying lap and suspended the session for thirty minutes. Proceedings did then resume, but with only two-and-a-half minutes left on the clock, there was only time for Hamilton, as well as Maldonado who also had not yet gone out, to do one flying lap. Hampered by cold tyres and a possible lack of focus after Perez's shunt, Hamilton could do no better than seventh, with Maldonado ninth. Nobody who had already set a time before the red flags was able to improve, leaving Vettel with pole position number twenty of his career.


Edit - Hamilton's Q3 lap was later declared void as he cut a chicane whilst setting it. This means he drops to tenth on the grid (ninth in reality with no Perez) behind Maldonado and Rosberg.


Top Ten – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Jenson Button (McLaren), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Sergio Perez (Sauber, Will not start), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)


My Prediction

The result of the Monaco Grand Prix is likely to boil down to who changes their tyres at the right time, particularly with regards to traffic with overtaking being close to impossible in the tight confines of the Monegasque streets. When it comes to strategy, there's few better than McLaren and Jenson Button, so I have a feeling it may be time for him to take his first win of the season:

1. Button, 2. Vettel, 3. Alonso, 4. Schumacher, 5. Massa, 6. Rosberg, 7. Kobayashi, 8. Maldonado, 9. Petrov, 10. Barrichello.

With Vettel's championship lead so large, I fancy high-profile accidents for the two men most desperate to close the gap: Hamilton and Webber. Mistakes are punished brutally at this circuit, and with Hamilton likely to be pushing extra-hard to make up for a poor qualification, and Webber trying in vain to match the relentless pace of his teammate, both will end up in the barriers. That will leave Alonso to complete the podium ahead of a tightly-bunched Mercedes sandwich with Massa acting as the filling. Sauber's trademark kindness on its tyres will see Kobayashi pick up another clutch of points in seventh, ahead of Maldonado who, along with Barrichello, will ensure the Williams team finally getting their 2011 underway with a well-deserved double points finish.

Even with the effect of DRS and KERS as overtaking aids nullified by the nature of the Monaco circuit, tomorrow's race should still be a fascinating one as the protagonists try to outfox each other with a variety of tyre strategies. Throw in a possible safety car, and the race is wide open. Don't forget to read all about it right here.