Monaco Grand Prix – race
Qualifying had some controversial moments, so I wonder if the grid has changed in the past day?
There’s the chance of rain during the race, which will make it even harder to stay out of the barriers. Current conditions: air temperature 25°C; track temp 34°C; wind 1.8m/s; humidity 54%
The provisional grid is: FA, LH, FM, GF, NR, MW, NH, RK, RB, JB; AW, VL, JT, HK, KR, DC; AD, SS, AS, RS, TS, CA.
Has Coulthard appealed yesterday’s penalty? I can’t see any report that he has, but the official FIA site says “Timing screens at the end of qualifying indicated that Coulthard would drop to 16th. He was subsequently listed 11th in the results before stewards clarified his provisional grid position.”
The official FIA live timing screens have been updated (5mins before the start of the race) and it shows DC in P13!? That means the grid is: FA, LH, FM, GF, NR, MW, NH, RK, RB, JB; AW, VL, DC, JT, HK, KR; AD, SS, AS, RS, TS, CA.
As the mechanics clear the grid we get a chance to see which tyres everyone’s starting with – looks like most drivers have gone with the soft compound rather than the “option tyre”, the super-soft.
Formation lap: FA leads the grid away
Everyone’s back to their grid position safely
01/78: LH drops in behind FA right off the line
NH has jumped up to P5; JB is down to P11 and DC down to P15
02: FA, LH, FM, GF, NH, NR, RB, MW
VL has put his Toro Rosso in the wall at Massenet
03: Fastest lap = FA 1:17.802
FA backs off a lot for the waved yellows around VL’s car
04: Replay of the start shows a clean getaway for almost everyone; KR had a good start, which might make up a little for his poor qualifying
05/78: FA f/lap 1:16.787
FA, LH, FM, GF, NH, NR, RB, MW
FA opening a slight lead over teammate LH – is he on a lighter fuel load?
06: FA f/lap 1:16.515
08: KR is tucked up behind JB (who’s in P11) but can’t pass him
JT takes P16 from TS
09: RS is still running last, over a second behind CA
10/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, NH, NR, RB, MW; retirements: VL
FA’s lead now 3.1s over LH, who is 3.4s ahead of FM
11: KR pushing JB hard for P11 – SS is 2.1s behind KR
12: FA lead now 4.9s
NH, on super-soft tyres, is ~15s behind GF – looks like the soft tyres were the right option for the first stint
14: LH seems to be struggling – he’s 6.5s behind his teammate now
15/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, NH, NR, RB, MW; retirements: VL
FM closing to 2.2s behind LH
The on-board pictures show KR has his hands full with the understeering Ferrari
17: The sky looks pretty cloudless, so will the forecast rain appear?
LH coming up to lap AS in P19
18: The front runners seem to have settled in to their pace; the two-stoppers will begin pitting in ~6 laps
19: MW pits from P8 – that doesn’t sound like a happy engine – he parks the Red Bull
20/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, NH, NR, RB, RK; retirements: VL, MW
LH f/lap 1:16.374
21: LH has closed FA’s lead to 3.0s, largely because of traffic
LH has now caught the same traffic at some of the twistier bits of the circuit – that’s going to re-open that gap
22: FA pushing really hard – his McLaren is almost sideways through the swimming pool!
23: FA f/lap 1:15.721 – that’s qualifying pace!
Will Ron Dennis let his drivers continue pushing or will he tell them to back off a bit and be sure to survive?
24: GF pits from P4, followed by NR
25/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, NH, RB, RK, AW; retirements: VL, MW
FA closing in on DC to lap him
26: LH has closed the gap to 4.2s
27: FA pits from P1… 7.5s stop
FM pits too – that’s doubly good news for LH
28: LH sets fastest sector 1 time … and S2 …
29: LH f/lap 1:15.372
FA is setting fastest sectors too, and he’s on a full fuel load
30/78: LH pits from P1 – apparently he’s asked the McLaren mechanics to reduce the pressure in the rear tyres
31: FM cuts the corner at the exit of the swimming pool – he’s struggling with his Ferrari too
32: FA’s lead now just 4secs
33: NH pits from P4
34: NH rejoined between JB and KR, which might help JB pull away
35/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, RB, RK, AW, JB; retirements: VL, MW
36: ITV-F1 interview MW: small misfire + lost a couple of gears
37: Drive through penalty for car 23 (AD, P16) for ignoring waved blue flags
NR pit-car radio reporting vibration in the rear – a quick telemetry check suggests it’s the rear tyres
38: FA leads LH by 4.4s; LH leads FM by 29.4s!
AD takes his drive through penalty
RB pits from P5 – looks like a 1-stopper
39 (half distance): RB rejoins right in front of LH and is met by a sea of blue flags
AD pits again, this time for his scheduled stop
40/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, AW, JB, NH; retirements: VL, MW
DC asks the team to look at his front wing – did he clip a kerb?
FA has lapped everyone up to & including KR in P9
41: RK is the fastest man on the track but FA is just behind him, so RK has to yield
Looks like DC’s lost part of the front wing
42: The McLarens have a safe lead but backing off can be as dangerous as pushing too hard, so will Ron Dennis just let them carry on?
43: JB pits from P7- rejoins in P11 – he’s on the harder tyre again, which means he has to pit once more as they have to use both types of tyre – was that an mistake?
44: DC pits – looks like they just ripped off some stray wing piece and cranked on more downforce rather than take the extra time to replace the nose cone
45/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, AW, NH, KR; retirements: VL, MW
FA f/lap 1:15.284
AW pits from P6
46: RK pits from P5 – rejoins ahead of teammate NH
48: FA’s lead 9.7s; FM almost 30secs behind LH
Closest battle is KR (P7), 0.5s behind NH
49: KR pits – rejoins behind teammate FM
Still to stop: JT & RS … and with that, JT pits
50/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, NH, AW, RB; (JB=P9) retirements: VL, MW
51: RS pits from P15
FA pits – slow into the box – soft tyres for the final stint
52: FA seems to be fairly cautious now – is there a problem or is he just confident of victory?
Meanwhile LH is still pushing hard, letting the tail slide out dangerously close to the wall
53: LH pits from P1 – rejoins in P2 with a safe lead over FM in P3
54: FA has lapped everyone up to + incl RK (P5) who is now just ahead of LH
55/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, NH, AW, RB; (JB=P9) retirements: VL, MW
56: FM pits from P3
SS reports that the brake pedal is “all the way to the floor” but the team tell him to press on 
AS clipped the barrier in Massenet and parks the Spyker – that should be removed OK under yellow flags
57: FA’s lead is down to 1.9s but it looks like FA has backed off a little – it’s unlike McLaren to give their drivers orders, but maybe they’ve told them to ease off and be sure to make it home
58: Maybe not – LH is still pushing on
59: LH is just 0.8s behind FA! Then again, catching one thing and passing (especially here) is another
60/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, NH, AW, RB; (JB=P9) retirements: VL, MW, AS
FM is now 47.3secs behind FM – McLaren have got a 1-2 finish as long as they don’t do anything risky
61: NR pits from P10, which should give JB a respite … although it looks like he’ll have to stop again
62: RB pits from P8 – looks like a strange strategy from Honda unless the super-soft tyres are really bad
63: JB pits from P8 – this means KR will take the final point
64: Slow motion replay shows LH with his front right wheel well up in the air as he turns in
65/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, NH, AW, KR; retirements: VL, MW, AS
Is LH struggling with the super-soft tyres? Has he overcooked them as he pushed FA?
66: Closest battle is KR (P8) 0.4s behind AW – KR is also currently the fastest driver
68: LH very close to the barriers as he exits the swimming pool
70/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, NH, AW, KR; retirements: VL, MW, AS
GF (P4) is the last of the drivers on the lead lap
71: RK struggling with grip in the hairpin
FA laps GF – just FM to go
72: BMW pit crew getting ready … definitely not a scheduled stop
74: RK falling back towards NH – will he be able to hold on to P5?
CA pits from P19/last – looks like a retirement, or at least a very long stop
75/78: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, NH, AW, KR; retirements: VL, MW, AS
76: RK’s lead over NH seems to have stabilised at ~4secs
KR still pushing AW for P7
CA has retired the Spyker
77: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, NH, AW, KR; retirements: VL, MW, AS, CA
LH leads FM by 57.5secs
78/78 = final lap: everyone’s just got to keep it out of the wall
FA takes the chequered flag
HK pits – he’s well outside the points so he’s probably called it a day
Provisional results: P1=FA, 2=LH, 3=FM, 4=GF, 5=RK, 6=NH, 7=AW, 8=KR (9=SS, 10=RB, 11=JB, 12=NR, 13=HK, 14=DC, 15=JT, 16=RS, 17=TS, 18=AD); retirements: VL, MW, AS, CA.
This means Alonso and Hamilton are on equal points but FA will be P1 based on #victories.
Interviews:
FA: “perfect car”; “first stint had a little less graining”; Trulli held him up for 3 laps
LH: a podium in every race so far; “I hit the barriers plenty of times in the race”!
FM: sounds like he thought 3rd was the best they could hope for even before the race started
Comments
2 Comments on Monaco Grand Prix – race
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blog.henman.ca » That was the fortnight that was on
Sun, 27th May 2007 4:09 pm
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blog.henman.ca » Monaco Grand Prix - Results on
Sun, 3rd Jun 2007 9:42 am
[...] miscellany and whatever else comes to mind – written by an Englishman in Canada. « Monaco Grand Prix – race That was the fortnight that [...]
[...] was an official investigation after the race but McLaren were cleared of any wrongdoing and so the race result is unchanged: FA, LH, FM, GF, RK, NH, AW, KR, hence the points table now looks like [...]
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