25/05/2013
NEWS STORY
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Mat Coch writes:
Nico Rosberg continued his fine form to secure his third consecutive pole position, while Lewis Hamilton made it an all-Mercedes front row after a difficult qualifying session.
Rain in the build-up threw a cat among the pigeons given all running prior to the crucial session had been in the dry. The weather eased by the time the session started, though with clouds hanging over the two-mile circuit the threat of heavier rain always loomed.
The Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton had been quick during practice, Rosberg's qualifying simulation in the final session raising more than a few eyebrows after setting a lap more than half a second faster than his nearest rival.
Before the session started Felipe Massa looked a non-starter as Ferrari worked to rebuild his damaged car, the Brazilian knocking three corners off it in a crash at Ste Devote in the dying moments of final practice. Force India and Lotus were also locked in a race against time to get Adrian Sutil and Romain Grosjean respectively out in the first phase of qualifying.
Qualifying 1
With the rain threatening, a queue of impatient drivers formed at the end of pitlane, keen to set a lap early in case the weather turned for the worse. Intermediates were the order of the day, the damp track far too slippery for slick tyres.
Just a minute into the session Jules Bianchi's qualifying was over, stopping his car at Massenet with smoke pouring out of the Marussia. The Frenchman was clearly in trouble upon leaving the pitlane, what appeared to be an engine fire likely caused by sitting at the end of the pit lane for too long.
The rain began to increase in its intensity as the drivers begun their first flying laps, Jenson Button setting the early pace with a 1:38.451. That time was soon beaten by Mark Webber by nearly two seconds with a 1:36.529.
Jean-Eric Vergne showed early pace, putting his Toro Rosso in a provisional second with a 1:36.893, though Paul Di Resta shot to the top of the charts with a 1:35.705, showing the right tyre and being of strong testicular fortitude were key factors to a fast lap.
Indeed the track began to improve as Alonso went fastest, only to be bettered by Vergne and then Hamilton, who was almost a second faster than anyone else at 1:32.920. Webber improved his time to a 1:33.417 as the timing screens changed like fruit machines.
Just before the midway point of the session only Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean were yet to head out. Of those who had been on track Bianchi was an obvious casualty while Max Chilton, Nico Rosberg and Charles Pic were in the danger zone with just under eleven minutes remaining. However with the track changing rapidly nobody was safe as drivers found whole seconds rather than tenths.
Times had tumbled from a 1:38 at the start of the session to a 1:27.288 for Mark Webber after nine minutes, while Nico Rosberg elevated himself with a lap three tenths slower than Webber's provisional pole time.
Pic too had climbed out of the bottom five; with just over eight minutes remaining he was thirteenth behind Daniel Ricciardo with a lap of 1:31.373. As times tumbled so too did Pic, while Rosberg was the class of the field with six minutes remaining with a 1:24.826, still ten seconds off the time set during final practice earlier in the day.
Romain Grosjean finally got out on track with four minutes remaining, the Lotus driver with an ironic advantage with a better circuit and fresher tyres at his disposal than that which was presented to his rivals at the beginning of the session.
The man Grosjean almost came together with in final practice, Lewis Hamilton, then lowered the bar with a 1:23.779, more than a second faster than second placed Rosberg and two seconds faster than what Raikkonen could manage. Indeed despite looking strong in practice Raikkonen seemed unable to match the pace of those at the very front.
Starting his first flying lap on intermediate tyres Grosjean was tentative early, though on his second lap began setting competitive sector times on his way to a time good enough for provisional pole. Button had temporarily held that spot with a 1:23.744 before he was bumped by Grosjean, who in turn fell victim of Pastor Maldonado who went a quarter of a second faster than anyone else.
As the chequered flag was shown times tumbled faster than the Roman empire, Di Resta in trouble in seventeenth became the biggest victim of the session as he missed the cut. "Sorry. That was a mess," said Di Resta's engineer. "You're not kidding," the Scot spits back.
It left Massa, who never made it out of the garage, and Bianchi joined at the rear of the grid by Max Hilton, Esteban Gutierrez, Charles Pic and Di Resta. Giedo Van der Garde escaped the first session with a lap two tenths faster than Di Resta, while Pastor Maldonado remained at the top of the class.
Qualifying 2
Between sessions the weather turned as rain began to fall more heavily making the slippery conditions even trickier for the sixteen remaining drivers. Once again a Formula One traffic jam formed at the end of pit lane, all drivers remaining on intermediate tyres looking to set a benchmark lap early on.
Rosberg was the first to start a lap, already some two seconds down at the first sector over the times seen in Qualifying 1. A missed braking marker at Nouvelle Chicane saw the Mercedes driver skirt across the run off area before setting a 1:34.439.
The first serious time was set by Monaco specialist Webber with a 1:32.132, only to be bettered by Kimi Raikkonen on a 1:31.285, Jenson Button 1:30.766 and Sergio Perez 1:29.537. Rosberg's second lap was better, almost over a second and a half faster than Perez in second though Nico Hulkenberg propelled his Sauber around in a lap of 1:27.519 to become the benchmark.
Further back Van Der Garde remained in sixteenth place with nine minutes remaining having not set a time. Ahead of him was Vergne who trailed Maldonado, Ricciardo, Vettel and Bottas who was eleventh quickest.
As during the first phase of qualifying, the circuit dried quickly. It saw times tumble rapidly while the ever changing conditions gave the teams a headache as to when to change on to dry tyres.
Van Der Garde enjoyed the improved track to set a 1:25.826 and became the first driver to brave slick tyres with six minutes remaining. He was followed by Mark Webber who was already second fastest, four tenths of a second adrift of Rosberg at the top of the table.
A number of drivers then followed suit, diving in to the pits for a change of tyres; Button, Perez and Ricciardo all made the switch as Lewis Hamilton radioed his team to confirm it was time to make the change to a slick Pirelli.
Alonso, on a faster lap than his previous best, made a late move for the pits with just over three minutes remaining to make a last minute change for slick rubber. The Ferrari driver was just fourteenth at the time, more than four seconds off the pace of the leaders.
Webber was the first to set a representative time on dry tyres, a 1:19.254 while Alonso started his first flying lap on dry tyres with just ninety seconds remaining, though immediately began setting personal best sectors. Raikkonen promoted himself out of the bottom six with 45 seconds remaining, giving himself an opportunity for another flying lap in the dying moments.
All sixteen drivers were on track as it track became faster; none could afford to assume they were safe. Vettel stopped the watches at 1:15.988 ahead of Raikkonen, while Alonso was fifth fastest with a 1:16.510.
It pushed Daniel Ricciardo out of the top ten, the Australian falling to twelfth, one spot ahead of Romain Grosjean who could only manage a 1:18.603, more than two and a half seconds off Vettel's provisional pole time.
Pastor Maldonado was perhaps the biggest loser; quickest in the opening phase of qualifying he was ultimately slower than Van der Garde's Caterham, while Valtteri Bottas set the fourteenth fastest time on his Monaco Grand Prix debut. Hulkenberg in eleventh was the final casualty of the second session.
Qualifying 3
The rain looked to have passed as teams and drivers prepared for the final ten minute qualifying session. It was an important session for Vergne who was starting the phase for the first time in his Formula One career, an important feat at a time when teammate Ricciardo is being mooted as a replacement for Mark Webber at the Red Bull senior team.
Drivers lined up at the end of pit lane, as has been the trend, this time opting for a new set of red-walled supersoft tyres.
Kimi Raikkonen led the cavalry on track, though a sluggish first sector effectively ruined his first timed lap. Behind Raikkonen it was Hamilton who was fastest, throwing down a 1:15.790 to briefly go fastest before Webber set a 1:15.134. Raikkonen's second lap was an improvement, though still narrowly slower than Webber.
Halfway through the session Webber was on a mission, lowering his own best to a 1:14.726 only to have teammate Vettel set the fastest lap of the weekend with a 1:14.333.
At the bottom end of the top ten Adrian Sutil and Vergne were engaged in a private battle. The pair narrowly trailed the McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, the quartet separated by less than a tenth of a second.
With three minutes remaining the drivers came trundling out the pitlane once again with a fresh set of supersoft tyres bolted on, seeking one final do-or-die lap around the Monaco streets.
The odd rain drop began to fall as drivers were told by their teams they'd get just one timed lap, Fernando Alonso working desperately to get some heat into his tyres ahead of his final timed lap.
His efforts were in vain as the Ferrari driver was unable to match Rosberg, who set fastest sectors throughout the lap to record a 1:13.876, knocking Hamilton off the top spot by nine-hundreths of a second.
Vettel was unable to beat the Mercedes pair, while a mistake from Webber saw him abandon his lap, handing a front row lock out to the German marque. It meant Rosberg notched up his third consecutive pole position, while Vergne recorded a career best qualifying result in tenth spot.
Alonso will have his work cut out from sixth on Sunday, starting alongside Raikkonen on the third row. It was a Red Bull second row, headed by Vettel with Perez in seventh, Sutil eighth and Button, who struggled with a power problem in the dying stages of the session, in ninth.
Check out our Qualifying gallery, here.