Monaco Grand Prix – qualifying

May 26, 2007 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

As forecast, there was rain earlier today.

Alonso was fastest in Thursday’s practice @ 1:15.940

Qualifying session 1:
Button is first on track
JB aborts his lap but still posts 1:30.612
Speed 1:19.978
Coulthard 1:19.771
Rosberg 1:19.648
Button 1:19.636
Barrichello 1:18.577
10mins left and the front runners yet to come out
Kubica 1:18.373
Rosberg 1:18.172
Raikkonen 1:17.905
Kubica 1:17.584
Alonso 1:17.274
Hamilton 1:16.924
Alonso 1:16.889
Hamilton 1:16.234
5mins left
Hamilton 1:15.685 – that’s 0.8secs faster than his teammate
3mins left; Bottom six are: Kovalainen, Coulthard, Speed, Webber, Sutil & Albers (Albers has yet to set a time)
DC up to P8, relegating Wurz to the bottom six
1min left
HK up to P15, pushing Davidson to P17
Chequered flag is out
Bottom six are: P17=Davidson, 18=Speed, 19=Sutil, 20=Schumacher, 21=Sato, 22=Albers.
Fastest was Hamilton’s 1:15.685

Qualifying session 2:
Rosberg is first to take to the track, followed by Williams teammate Wurz
NR 1:16.100
Raikkonen has stalled his Ferrari in Rascasse
KR backs up and heads for the pits – has he broken the front right suspension?
Replay shows KR clipped a barrier exiting the swimming pool
Hamilton 1:15.479
Alonso 1:15.431
5mins left; bottom six are Webber, Trulli, Wurz, Liuzzi, Kovalainen & Raikkonen (Button in P10)
3mins left: looks like Raikkonen won’t be rejoining – it’s going to take a while to replace that suspension
1min left
HK on a flyer but he’s closed up on DC – looked like DC was going to let him pass going in to Anthony Noghes but then closes the door
Chequered flag out
Webber umps to P9, pushing Button to P11
“Incident involving cars 4 and 14 under investigation by the stewards” – that’s the DC/HK incident
Bottom six are: P11=Button, 12=Wurz, 13=Liuzzi, 14=Trulli, 15=Kovalainen, 16=Raikkonen
Fastest was Alonso’s 1:15.431

Qualifying session 3:
There’s already a queue forming with >2 mins before the start of the final session
DC has been penalised – he won’t be allowed to take part in Q3 and has been replaced by Button. In fact DC has been bumped down to P16!
Hamilton 1:15.905
There’s a hint of rain so it’s important to set a good time early in this final session
Rosberg & Massa pit early
10mins left
Hamilton & Heidfeld pit, then Barrichello, Kubica & Alonso
7mins left; P1=LH, 2=FA, 3=FM, 4=NR, 5=NH, 6=RK, 7=RB, 8=JB, 9=MW, 10=GF
Both McLarens have picked up the pace
5mins left; LH, FA, FM, GF, NH, RK, RB, NR, JB, MW
2mins left; LH, FA, GF, NR, FM, MW, NH, RK, JB, RB
1min left; LH, FA, GF, NR, NH, FM, RK, MW, RB, JB
FA 1:15.726
Chequered flag is out
FM to P3
NR to P5
Session ends with FA on pole