[Mark]

Today's David Coulthard's crash in Monaco




&


Kovalainen tetaque during today's Free Practice

[funkdoctorspock]

I missed qualifying this morning.

Anyways, Ferrari have the front row secured. Mclaren the 2nd row. This will definitely come down to fuel/pit strategy. Hopefully Lewis can win this, or a the very least get on the podium.

Felipe Massa secured Ferrari's third Monaco pole position in 20 years as he beat team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to the coveted grid slot.

Although many had predicted that McLaren would dominate today's qualifying session, it was Ferrari who proved to be the team to beat. Massa nipped in at the last possible moment with a 1:15.787 to take pole away from Raikkonen by 0.028s. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton had to settle for third place, only 0.052s off the pace.

And with rain expected tomorrow the top three places on the grid could prove to be the podium result as well.

Qualifying Report

After a rainy start to the day and an officially wet morning practice, the track was cool and drying with sunshine about to break out. The ambient was only 19C and the track at 21C when the session got under way on a track that had a lot of the rubber put down on Thursday washed off.

Qualifying 1

Heikki Kovalainen had gone fastest in morning practice and then touched the barrier, so he was keen to get out on track and learn as much as possible about the changed conditions. Likewise David Coulthard had suffered an oil pressure problem in his Red Bull and needed track time.

With cars putting in two, three and sometimes four laps, the provisional fastest time yoyo'd between Coulthard, Sebastian Vettel and Heikki Kovalainen. Then Kimi Raikkonen came out early and put in multiple laps to get an idea of what was going on.

Kovalainen reduced P1 to 1:16.806 before Felipe Massa joined in and lowered it to 1:16.60. Kovalainen snatched it back with a 1:16.315 while Nico Rosberg's first lap out of the pits was an incredible 1:16.116.

A long way further back Nelson Piquet was doing his Renault chances no favours by going straight on at St. Devote.

Kimi Raikkonen claimed P1 on his third lap on hard tyres with a 1:15.717, which Lewis Hamilton nicked inside with a 1:15.582.

In the last three minutes the bottom half of the grid was 11.Barrichello, 12.Heidfeld, 13.Button, 14.Vettel, 15.Trulli, 16.Sutil, 17.Nakajima, 18.Piquet, 19.Bourdais, 20. Fisichella.

Usually the tail-enders have the circuit to themselves, but in Monaco even drivers who were safely through to Q2 wanted to try things out. Kovalainen came back out on track to take P1 with a 1:15.295, while in the dying moments Felipe Massa reduced it to a remarkable 1:15.190 - the writing was on the wall.

Nakajima jumped up to 14th place, Coulthard cemented his position in the top ten with 8th, Button moved forward to 10th, but Nelson Piquet could only manage 16th place. Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais improved his time, but not by enough.

Out went:
16.Bourdais
17.Piquet
18.Vettel
19.Sutil
Fisichella
The major casualty was Nelson Piquet who failed to make Q2 for the second race in succession.


Qualifying 2

Fernando Alonso came out on track first and set the benchmark time of 1:16.511, Kimi Raikkonen was again out early and took P1 off him with a 1:15.404 while Felipe Massa showed that he was consistently quick from session to session with a 1:15.110.

While the Ferraris had hit form, the McLarens were struggling to match their pace - Lewis Hamilton's first lap was a 1:14.420 for P3, he went round again for another quick lap on the softer tyre and managed a 1:15.374 to get inside Raikkonen's time for P2, but not by much. Then Nico Rosberg set the Williams mechanics hearts thumping with a rapid 1:15.287 for P2

Going into the last three minutes, the men who would definitely have to go again were: 7.Webber, 8.Coulthard, 9.Glock, 10.Trulli, 11.Barrichello, 12.Heidfeld, 13.Alonso, 14.Barrichello, 15.Nakajima.

Trulli, who'd been surprisingly behind his rookie team-mate's pace, suddenly made the major leap forward to take P7, Alonso - who had sounded thoroughly dejected on his team radio - grabbed P9. Then the cameras focused on a solitary wheel rolling along the tarmac by the harbour front with no sign of an accompanying car.

Replays eventually showed that David Coulthard had lost control of his Red Bull in the braking zone for the tunnel hairpin, slewed violently sideways into the barrier and headed straight down the escape road out of sight of any camera. Minus a wheel. The Scot was uninjured but even though he had managed to claim 10th place, had no car to compete in Q3.

Out went:
11.Glock
12.Button
13.Heidfeld
14. Nakajima
15.Barrichello

The major casualty of the session was BMW's Nick Heidfled - Robert Kubica had got his car up to P5 and Heidfeld was seven places back. Timo Glock, having performed well in Q1 and the first half of Q2 lost out at the last minute.


Qualifying 3

So far Felipe Massa had been fastest in every session, but with Ferrari only scoring two Monaco poles in the last 20 years and McLaren having dominated on Friday it was expected that Lewis Hamilton or maybe Kovalainen might pull something special in the last session.

Kovalainen duly registered provisional P1 with a 1:16.621 and Hamilton took it off him with a 1:16.313. Both these times were rendered inadequate by Kimi Raikkonen's 1:16.112. Team-mate Felipe Massa could only manage P3 while Robert Kubica then put in a storming lap to grab P2 with a 1:16.233.

Going into the final laps the order was: 1.Raikkonen 2.Kubica 3.Hamilton 4.Massa 5.Kovalainen 6.Alonso 7.Webber 8.Rosberg 9.Trulli 10.Coulthard (not running).

Raikkonen lowered the pole time to a 1:15.815 and Lewis Hamilton set about beating it. Crossing the line the McLaren driver was agonisingly short with a 1:15.839. Seconds later, the self-confessed Monaco hater Felipe Massa crossed the line with a truly amazing 1:15.787.

Massa and Raikkonen had delivered a Monaco shock, (in the FIA press conference he was still struggling to believe it) but one that had been signalled by some very quick laps in Q1 and Q2, vouching that this wasn't a front row bought by low fuel in the car.

Hikkei Kovalainen will line up with his team-mate in P4, while Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso will share the third row.

With rain predicted for the race tomorrow and no traction control to help the drivers out, Massa will have the best view on the circuit - whether his newly found love affair with the Monaco GP continues remains to be seen, but he couldn't have given himself a better opportunity.

FH

Times
01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:15.787
02 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:15.815
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:15.839
04 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:16.165
05 R. Kubica BMW 1:16.171
06 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.548
07 F. Alonso Renault 1:16.852
08 J. Trulli Toyota 1:17.203
09 M. Webber Red Bull 1:17.343
10 D. Coulthard Red Bull no time
11 T. Glock Toyota 1:15.907
12 J. Button Honda 1:16.101
13 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:16.455
14 K. Nakajima Williams 1:16.479
15 R. Barrichello Honda 1:16.537
16 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.806
17 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:16.933
18 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.955
19 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:17.225
20 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:17.823

Source

[Mark]

i've posted the today's qual results a little bit up mate

but no problem your report is much more detailed


i don't think that Lewis could win this race from the 3rd position if the rain doesn't show up cuz it's almost impossible to excel the car in front of you in Monaco imo, if the will show up then will be an interesting race.

[funkdoctorspock]

LEWIS HAMILTON!!!!

Monaco winner.

He messes up and hits the barrier on lap 6 and still comes back to win.

DC, didn't I tell you Massa is a joke? He has no right driving for Ferrari. In fact, I would be a better choice for Ferrari.

Back in the lead for the WDC for Lewis. Hopefully he keeps the momentum going.

Lewis Hamilton fought back from an early barrier-bender and a puncture to win an incident-filled Monaco Grand Prix.


A wet start to the race meant the treacherous street circuit become an obstacle course that few nosecones survived. It was the theme of the day as drivers tapped one another or shunted with the barriers, limping back to their pits for quick repairs before heading out again.


Surprisingly, though, only six drivers failed to finish the incident-packed race. However, only one, Hamilton, actually benefited from his minor crash.


It allowed the Brit to pit early for fuel and tyres, putting him in contention for the victory while the early leader and pole position man Felipe Massa took the conservative approach which cost him any chance of winning. In fact it even cost him second place which Robert Kubica took off him in the second round of pit stops.


Mark Webber eventually finished fourth after a late Safety Car restart saw the field bunch up and Kimi Raikkonen take out Adrian Sutil. They had been on course to finish fourth and fifth with the Force India driver showing Raikkonen how it's done in Monte Carlo.


Sebastian Vettel bagged his first points of the season, finishing ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Kazuki Nakajima and Heikki Kovalainen.


Full report to follow...


Results
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 2:00:42.742
02 R. Kubica BMW + 3.064
03 F. Massa Ferrari + 4.811
04 M. Webber Red Bull + 19.295
05 S. Vettel Toro Rosso + 24.657
06 R. Barrichello Honda + 28.408
07 K. Nakajima Williams + 30.180
08 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 33.191
09 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 33.792
10 F. Alonso Renault + 1 laps
11 J. Button Honda + 1 laps
12 T. Glock Toyota + 1 laps
13 J. Trulli Toyota + 1 laps
14 N. Heidfeld BMW + 4 laps
Did not finish
15 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 7 laps
16 N. Rosberg Williams + 17 laps
17 N. Piquet jr. Renault + 31 laps
18 G. Fisichella Force India F1 + 40 laps
19 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 70 laps
20 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso + 70 laps

Source

[Mark]

yes funky, it was a great, great race, lots of crashes and lots of highlightes, Lewis victory and Kimi's pointless position made the championship much more interesting and disputed now, i can't wait for the Canadian GP.


Anyway the winning race will be long and more can happen on the course, remember last season.


Will be an entertaining F1 year this too.

Hamilton masters Monaco

Briton takes Championship lead

Lewis Hamilton has taken victory in the Monaco Grand Prix, the McLaren Mercedes star scoring his second win of the 2008 Formula One season.


In a race shortened to 76 of the scheduled 78 laps by rain early on, the Briton survived an early scrape with the barriers to take the chequered flag three seconds ahead of BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica.


Polesitter Felipe Massa finished third for Ferrari, ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.


Honda's Rubens Barrichello finished sixth, ahead of Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima, with Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen taking the final point with eighth place.


With Kimi Raikkonen finishing ninth, the result also means that Hamilton has taken a three-point lead in the Drivers' Championship.


However, Ferrari still holds a 16-point lead over McLaren in the Constructors' Championship.


The combination of both heavy rain at the start of the race and an absence of traction control led to the anticipation of incident, and so it proved.


With Heikki Kovlainen starting from the pitlane having stalled on the grid, the opening lap saw Williams driver Nico Rosberg hit the back of Alonso at the Loews Hairpin, Jenson Button also doing the same to Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber.


Running seventh at the end of lap four, Toyota's Timo Glock also had to pit for a new nose after spinning at the final corner.


Having passed Raikkonen at the lights, lap six saw Hamilton getting it wrong when he clobbered a barrier at the Tabac corner and needed to pit.


Despite needing a right rear wheel, Hamilton was perhaps fortunate to be able to continue. Fuelled for just one more stop, Hamilton rejoined - his hopes of victory surely dashed.


Nerve


However, given the conditions, there was still the likelihood of more of the same and, as Hamilton held his nerve, it was now the turn of his rivals to lose their cool.


Alonso lost control of his Renault heading into Casino Square on lap eight, before David Coulthard dropped his Red Bull in identical fashion, the Scot's car then being collected by Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais.


With Hamilton already up to fourth place, the safety car was thus deployed. Racing resumed on lap 10, when matters became even more complicated - Raikkonen receiving a drive through penalty because his tyres were not fitted as per the regulations three minutes before the race started.


Alonso then pitted once more after rashly attempting to pass Heidfeld into Loews on lap 14, the inevitable collision producing a tailback.


Promoted to second after Raikkonen's penalty, Kubica then took the lead after Massa ran wide into Sainte Devote at the start of lap 16 but, with the rain now having stopped, the Ferrari driver managed to recover and keep pace.


A dry line was beginning to appear by lap 23, with Kubica and Massa trading fastest laps and pulling themselves away from Hamilton, the McLaren 14 seconds behind. The race leader pitted at the end of lap 25, the Pole rejoining in fourth.


Fourth became third almost immediately after Raikkonen ran wide at Sainte Devote and knocked the nose of his Ferrari askew. Fuelled to the end of the race, he rejoined in sixth place behind the flying Adrian Sutil.


Massa pitted at the end of lap 32, rejoining in second place behind Hamilton, who put in a succession of fastest laps as he built an 26-second lead by lap 46.


As the track dried it was Alonso - out of the running in 15th place - who became the first to stop for slicks. Team-mate Nelson Piquet followed shortly thereafter, as did Webber from fourth place.


Drying track


All three drivers initially struggled and, perhaps predictably, the Brazilian rookie soon dumped his car in the barrier. But, with the track getting ever dryer and a promised rain shower failing to materialise, the dries were soon the tyres to have.


Kubica pitted for dries from third on lap 54, with race leader Hamilton and Sutil, the young German driver now up to fourth, doing the same soon after. Such was the McLaren's advantage by this stage that Hamilton rejoined with a 15-second lead over Massa.


The Brazilian lost second place to Kubica after making his own final stop two laps later, with Sutil retaking fourth place from Raikkonen after the latter made his third stop on lap 58.


Hamilton by now held a 40-second lead over Kubica, but that advantage was wiped out after Rosberg's crash in front at the swimming pool section of the track brought out the Safety Car once again on lap 62.


Racing resumed once more at the start of lap 67 and, with Hamilton getting the drop on Kubica, Raikkonen's shadowing of Sutil in fourth ended in disaster for them both - the World Champion losing control on a damp patch coming into the chicane and ploughing into the back of the Force India.


Ironically, Raikkonen was able to continue but damage to the rear of his car meant that Sutil's strong performance did not gain its reward. Webber thus reclaimed fourth place, with Vettel up to fifth.


Meanwhile, as Hamilton took the chequered flag in the Principality to emulate hero Ayrton Senna, Kovlainen claimed the final point, the Finn surely once again ruing the awful luck he has endured thus far in 2008.

Review Here!

MONACO GRAND PRIX images - Sunday in Monte Carlo | MORE HERE!


Monaco Grand Prix atmosphere | MORE HERE!

After 6 races the Drivers and Teams Standings are:


DRIVERS:







TEAMS:

[Dirtycheat]

Originally Posted by funkdoctorspock

LEWIS HAMILTON!!!!

Monaco winner.

He messes up and hits the barrier on lap 6 and still comes back to win.

DC, didn't I tell you Massa is a joke? He has no right driving for Ferrari. In fact, I would be a better choice for Ferrari.

Back in the lead for the WDC for Lewis. Hopefully he keeps the momentum going.

hamilton was very fortunate today, no one can deny that


massa is a good driver. The problem is concentration lapses. He is great in qualifying so he isnt exactly a joke is he? He just needs to be more consistent in the real race.

This year he will finish above raikonen unless ferrari tell him to make way as they usually do.

He is 1 point below kimi and 4 below lewis (who was lucky today).

we will see who comes out on top. It will be a ferrari, not lewis. *touch wood*

[mark08]

a great race helped by the weather!
seeing the teams contemplate tactics for the whole time was brilliant!

hamilton did well given his crash which ended up helping him!

felt reeally sorry for sutil after a quality performance from the guy!

does tighten things at the top though and makes it very interesting indeed!

role on canadian GP!

[USAManUtd13]

Fantastic race. Monaco is so fun to watch. I'd say the story of the race is the horrid bad luck to Sutil. Where was he when Raikkonen got squirrelly? Sixth? Fifth? Really unfortunate for him and Force India.

After watching qualifying, had it been dry, I couldn't see Massa not winning.

I can't believe how lucky Hamilton was. Kissing the wall requiring an early pit was why he won the race. It was nice to see how much it meant to him.


(What the hell was Puff Daddy doing there...)

[mark08]

lol!
diddy and lewis must be mates!

i cannot belive the ppl that lewis has ended up hangin out wid, the lucky ****!

he even invited nicole out of pussycat dolls dwn there!

the guy is livin it up big time!
fairply to him!

[Mark]

Renault: 2009 regulations could lead to shake-up

Originally Posted by f1.com

Next season will see the introduction of several key changes to the Formula One regulations. And Renault’s executive director of engineering Pat Symonds believes that these adjustments could bring about a shift in the standings, as teams struggle to balance their 2008 development work with the need to prepare for the future.


Revised aerodynamic rules, the return of slick tyres and the introduction of KERS technology means that Formula One teams should already be hard at work developing their 2009 car. Symonds, however, whose squad is currently embroiled in a tough championship fight with other midfield teams, including Red Bull, Williams and Toyota, is aware that they also need to continue development work for their ’08 machines.


“We are a big team but we are not big enough to handle two major projects and I think some of the people who are maybe struggling a little bit this year, for example Honda, I think have pushed a lot more effort into next year than we have been able to,” explained Symonds during a team podcast on Renault’s official website. “And we may see a little bit of a shake-up of the establishment next year.

“If you are fighting, as we are this year, then you have got to keep the development. And there is nothing wrong with (that) if it is all applicable to the following year's car. Unfortunately next year's car is a very, very different animal, completely different aerodynamic rules, the KERS system is introduced, slick tyres - lot and lots of things that will make it a very different car. So it is all the more important that we start early on it. And that makes it a very hard for us to do.”


Despite the difficulty of dividing resources between next season and this, Symonds is confident that the developments Renault plan to introduce at the forthcoming Canadian Grand Prix will change the French team’s performance for the better.


“There are other parts that are non circuit specific that are coming in Canada both in aerodymanics and in suspension, which will remain on the cars for other circuits as well, whether they be high, low or medium downforce,” he added. “So there’s a lot of work going on, a lot of exciting things in the pipeline.

“We need something to get up there and be challenging the top three but I do believe those things are coming. We have gone from Australia where we had a car that was definitely not the car that we wanted and not the car that we needed, to a car that really is a great deal better. And all the things that were put in place to make the car better are still in place and still producing results, so in terms of performance I actually feel very confident.”


Renault are currently seventh in the championship, level with Toyota on nine points, six behind Williams and Red Bull.

f1.com | Headlines | Article Here!




and they're right, those changes are meant to bring some equality between the team and bugets, so hopefully we'll see next season if they're bad or good.