15/05/2010
NEWS STORY
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Ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session, the big news is that Fernando Alonso will not be participating.
Following his accident during the free practice session it was discovered that his chassis was "not repairable", consequently the Spaniard will start tomorrow's race from the pitlane in a new car.
In all reality, the Ferrari driver might not be alone tomorrow afternoon for with twenty-three cars taking part in Q1 we can expect a few surprises as the big guns find themselves tripping up over the numerous slower cars. How slow, well, the quickest GP2 cars this weekend have been lapping quicker than the Hispanias.
Robert Kubica was quickest this morning, the Pole an obvious dark horse both for pole position and possibly even the win. However, most of the usual suspects clearly have pace here even though Button was a disappointing tenth this morning.
It is pointless to try and make predictions about what might happen over the course of the next hour, far less tomorrow, for this is Monaco and as we know from experience anything can happen here… and usually does.
Tyre options are medium (prime) and super-soft (option).
As the lights go green the air temperature is 19 degrees C while the track temperature is 35 degrees.
Webber is one of the first out, along with Hamilton, Button Rosberg, Vettel and Kubica.
Glock posts 20.362 but moments later Kubica up the ante with a 16.629. The times are tumbling and once the first laps have been completed Massa (15.660) leads Hamilton, Kubica, Schumacher, Vettel and Button.
Barrichello goes third with a 15.967 as Schumacher posts 16.113 to go fourth. All but Alguersuari are on track.
Rosberg goes quickest in the first two sectors but then hit traffic, his lap ruined. Elsewhere, Button goes quickest with a 15.623, however, Massa and Vettel are both on hot laps.
No sooner has Vettel gone quickest with a 15.110 than he is leapfrogged by Massa (14.757). All this on the harder compound.
Sutil, in seventh with ten minutes remaining, posts a personal best in the first sector as most of his rivals head back to the pits. The German posts 15.445 to go fifth.
The top nine - Massa, Webber, Vettel, Rosberg, Liuzzi, Sutil, Button and Schumacher appear to have settled for their times, leaving the usual suspects to slug it out. That said, Button leaves the pits for another go as Petrov posts 15.482 to go eighth.
Just under three minutes remaining and Kovalainen, Trulli, Glock, di Grassi, Senna and Chandhok fill the bottom six positions.
Hamilton goes quickest in the first sector, as Kovalainen has his second spin of the afternoon. Hamilton loses a heap of time in the second sector and aborts the lap.
Q1 ends, with Massa fastest, ahead of Webber, Kubica, Vettel, Rosberg, Liuzzi, Sutil, Petrov, Button and Schumacher.
We lose, as expected, Kovalainen, Trulli, Glock, di Grassi, Senna and Chandhok.
Q2 gets underway and all but Vettel, Alguersuari and de la Rosa are straight out. Though as the main body of drivers begin their hot laps these three duly head down the pitlane.
Petrov posts the benchmark time, the Russian crossing the line at 15.576. Liuzzi goes second and Schumacher third.
A 14.942 sees Kubica make is a Renault 1-2, most drivers running on the option tyre.
Schumacher posts 14.970 to go second as Buemi goes third. Moments later, Rosberg goes second with a 14.680 and Massa third (14.890).
Having gone quickest in the first and final sectors, Rosberg posts 14.375 to go quickest overall. Webber goes second with a 14.462 ahead of Vettel, Massa, Kubica and Schumacher. Button still eleventh, and in the danger zone, with 7:41 remaining.
In his efforts to get out of Button's way, de la Rosa almost goes into the harbour. The Englishman improves to tenth with a 15.392.
Button pits for new tyres, while teammate Hamilton looks to improve on seventh (15.031). Indeed, the 2008 champion goes sixth with a 14.681, however, he's still far from safe.
With 3:37 remaining, all but Rosberg are on track. The yellow flags are out in the first sector after Petrov gets it wrong at Ste Devote.
Button remains tenth, just above the danger zone which includes Hulkenberg, Buemi and Sutil.
As Buemi fails to improve, Massa goes quickest in the first sector. Button posts 15.150 to go eighth.
Massa goes second with a 14.405 and Hamilton fourth with a 14.527.
Q2 ends with Rosberg quickest, ahead of Massa, Webber, Hamilton, Kubica, Vettel, Schumacher, Liuzzi, Barrichello and Button.
We lose Hulkenberg, Sutil, Buemi, Petrov, de la Rosa, Kobayashi and Alguersuari.
Q3 gets underway and Barrichello, Kubica and Liuzzi are straight out.
Kubica crosses the line at 14.712 to set the benchmark, while Barrichello can only manage 16.064.
A 15.352 sees Hamilton go second, however, moments later Kubica raises the benchmark with a 14.284. The Pole is on used option tyres.
Hamilton fails to improve while his McLaren teammate goes fourth with a 20.396. Both McLarens appearing to struggle.
A 17.352 sees Webber go fourth as Rosberg and Vettel head down the pitlane. Massa slows in order to make some space for himself but consequently hampers Button who is on a hot lap.
Schumacher goes third (15.403) with 1:59 on the clock. Meanwhile, Kubica goes quickest in the first two sectors, crossing the line at 14.120, however, Webber posts 14.104 to take provisional pole from the Pole.
Vettel gets it all wrong at the Nouvelle Chicane and ruins his lap, as Webber and Kubica battle for pole.
Webber posts 13.826 to take provisional pole as Rosberg improves to sixth and Schumacher seventh. A last gasp attempt sees Vettel go third with a 14.227, however, it is his Red Bull teammate who has pole position.
Consequently, Webber will start tomorrow's race from pole position, ahead of Kubica, Vettel, Massa, Hamilton, Rosberg, Schumacher, Button, Barrichello and Liuzzi.
Another blistering performance from the Australian whose first hot lap came out of nowhere, just at a time when we though Kubica had it sewn up. Having taken his second successive pole it remains to be seen if the popular Red Bull driver can match it with back-to-back wins.
What a performance from Kubica, the Pole coming so close but the Renault ultimately proving no match for the Red Bull.
With Fernando Alonso starting from the pitlane tomorrow, Ferrari's hopes appear to rest fully on Felipe Massa, while McLaren and Mercedes must be disappointed.
Another strong performance from Rubens Barrichello while Tonio Liuzzi did extremely well to get the Force India into the Top Ten.