F1: Monaco GP Qualifying Review

Nico Rosberg (C) of Mercedes GP celebrates finishing first alongside second placed Lewis Hamilton (L) of Mercedes GP and third placed Sebastian Vettel (R) of Red Bull Racing following qualifying for the Monaco F1 GP at the Circuit de Monaco on May 25, 2013 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Getty Images)

15 minutes before the start of Q1, it seemed that Mother Nature was going to have fun at the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying. The circuit is already tight enough, with the cars seeming to be just a little too quick to really race, but when you add a shower to the situation, things could get quite really messy.

Just under one minute into Q1, Jules Bianchi stopped out on track in his Marussia at Massenet with what looked like a mechanical problem, which brought out a yellow flag so soon into Q1 with nearly all the drives on track (except Romain Grosjean and Felipe Massa as their respective team’s battle to get their cars fixed).

As the rain began to cease, and the driving line started to dry, the times (and driver’s) began to pass quickly. But some fans were beginning to worry; there was no sign of Lotus’ Romain Grosjean or Ferrari‘s Felipe Massa. With both drivers crashing out in FP3, it was a difficult decision to predict whether or not the stewards would allow them to drive without setting a time.

But with two minutes left in Q1, it was good news for Romain Grosjean as he appeared out on track. But it was not so good for Felipe Massa when BBC F1 co-commentator, David Coulthard, reported that Ferrari had stopped work on the Brazilian’s car. It was game over for the Brazilian.

As the chequered flag fell for the end of Q1, it was disappointment (nearly) all around. Force India’s Paul di Resta did not make it through (mostly due to his teammate pushing him out). Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was unable to set anytime. But it wasfantastic news for Caterham as their young Dutch rookie, Giedo van der Garde, put in a great effort and managed to get himself into Q2.

After a chaotic first segment of qualifying (where it was intermediate tyres all the way), the list of six drivers that did not make it were:

17) Paul di Resta 1:26.32218) Charels Pic 1:26.633s19) Esteban Gutierrez 1:26.917s20) Max Chilton 1:27.303s–) Jules Bianchi No time set–) Felipe Massa No time set

Q2 started and it appeared that the rain drops were starting to be a bit larger but it didn’t stop the driver’s from racing. Vergne was straight out onto the circuit, followed closely by Rosberg, Webber, Vettel and Hamilton. All the experienced driver’s were well aware of the forecasted traffic that would come on track.

But as the rain eased again, a dry line started to show on track and with only a few minutes left in the session, the driver’s pitted for the super-soft tyres. The times came so quickly, it was a stress to keep up with who held the fastest time as Webber, Button, Perez, Raikkonen and Vettel all set the pace.

With such a busy end to the second segment the six that didn’t make it into the top ten were:

11) Nico Hulkenberg 1:18.331s12) Daniel Ricciardo 1:18.344s13) Romain Grosjean 1:18.603s14) Valtteri Bottas 1:19.077s15) Giedo van der Garde 1:19.408s16) Pastor Maldonado 1:21.688s

But with a fantastic effort, this was the first time in his career that Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne made it into Q3.

Vettel and Webber were provisionally first and second following the first Q3 runs, and with the rain appearing set to increase, it looked like Red Bull might have the front row sealed. But the rain held off and the ten drivers did not appear to waste any available run time on track, each having at least two runs.

After the first runs in Q3, the Red Bulls had managed to hang on to the top, but when it came down to the business end of the session Vettel was 0.104s shy of Rosberg in third, and Webber was another two tenths slower in fourth. Raikkonen claimed fifth on the grid with a competitive lap time of 1:14.822, while Fernando Alonso had to settle for sixth with a time 0.002s shy of the Lotus’.

Sergio Perez put in an impressively strong lap for seventh position on the grid in his McLaren, just ahead of Adrian Sutil in eighth. Jenson Button was eighth fastest in the second McLaren ahead of a great performance from Jean-Eric Vergne in tenth.

Nico Rosberg	P1
Lewis Hamilton	P2
Sebastian Vettel	P3
Mark Webber	P4
Kimi Räikkönen	P5
Fernando Alonso	P6
Sergio Perez	P7
Adrian Sutil	P8
Jenson Button	P9
Jean-Éric Vergne	P10
Nico Hülkenberg	P11
Daniel Ricciardo	P12
Romain Grosjean	P13
Valtteri Bottas	P14
Giedo van der Garde	P15
Pastor Maldonado	P16
Paul di Resta	P17
Charles Pic	P18
Esteban Gutiérrez	P19
Max Chilton	P20
Jules Bianchi	DNQ
Felipe Massa	DNQ

Q1 107% - Time 1:29.293

Note – Bianchi and Massa failed to set a qualifying time within the 107% requirement. Both race at stewards’ discretion. Massa takes five-place grid penalty for gearbox change.