The most famous team in motor sport and the most famous race on the calendar do not seem to go well together, as yet again today, bad luck struck Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in Monaco. For Felipe Massa, it was only slightly annoying that his final lap of qualifying, in a session where he really looked capable of fighting for pole, was spoilt by traffic, which cost him precious fractions of a second. However, he still starts from a very respectable and promising fourth spot on the second row.
More serious is the situation for Fernando Alonso. In this morning’s free practice session, he hit the barriers at Massenet and although it was not a very high speed impact, the angle of attack did some serious damage to the chassis. For two reasons, this meant the Spaniard was unable to take part in qualifying: firstly the chassis was too badly damaged to repair in time and secondly, the regulations state that a driver cannot use two chassis on the same day. What had looked like being the Scuderia’s strongest qualifying in recent races now ends up with Felipe near the front, but Fernando relegated to starting tomorrow’s sixth round of the world championship from the pit lane.
There is no need for a reminder that at this track, where overtaking is really difficult, this situation could not have come at a worse time. However, while it is true that passing is tough here, it is equally true that anything can and often does happen in this longest race on the calendar.
Mark Webber was quickest this afternoon, the Red Bull driver following up his pole and win in Barcelona last Sunday with another first place start here in the Principality. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel, starts right behind him and alongside Felipe. Splitting the Australian and the German is Robert Kubica in the Renault. Under normal circumstances, this front row position for the Polish driver would have been a surprise, but for the fact he has been very quick right from the start of free practice on Thursday.
Lewis Hamilton is the highest place man on the grid to have won this event and he starts on Row 3 in fifth place in the McLaren, with Nico Rosberg next to him in the Mercedes, while Row 4 is occupied by two other Monaco victors, Rosberg’s team-mate Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button in the other McLaren.
Monaco GP starting grid
1 WEBBER Red Bull
2 KUBICA Renault
3 VETTEL Red Bull
4 MASSA Ferrari
5 HAMILTON McLaren
6 ROSBERG Mercedes
7 SCHUMACHER Mercedes
8 BUTTON McLaren
9 BARRICHELLO Williams
10 LIUZZI Force India
11 HULKENBERG Williams
12 SUTIL Force India
13 BUEMI Toro Rosso
14 PETROV Renault
15 DE LA ROSA Sauber
16 KOBAYASHI Sauber
17 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso
18 KOVALAINEN Lotus
19 TRULLI Lotus
20 GLOCK Virgin
21 DI GRASSI Virgin
22 SENNA HRT
23 CHANDHOK HRT
24 ALONSO Ferrari*
* to start from pit lane
