Monaco Grand Prix – Race

It was wet in Qualifying but it looks like it’ll be dry for the race.
Air temperature 19°C; track 40°C; wind 1.9m/s; humidity 35%

Provisional grid: ROS, HAM, VET, WEB, RAI, ALO, PER, SUT, BUT, VER; HUL, RIC, GRO, BOT, VDG, MAL; DIR, PIC, GUT, CHI, BIA, MAS.
CHI has been penalised for a gearbox change (as was MAS) and will start at the back.

Tyre this weekend are: prime=soft, option=super-soft

Expectation is for 1 or 2 pit stops

ROS leads everyone away on the formation lap … except for BIA who has to be pushed off the grid
(It’s 30 years since ROS’ father won this race)
Radio from BUT – “lot of clutch slip”
MAS and CHI slow to take their place – long hold for the guys on the front of the grid

01/78: VET attacking off the line
HAM having to defend from VET
Contact in Mirabeau – VDG into the rear of MAL
PER cuts the chicane

02: ROS, HAM, VET, WEB, RAI, ALO, PER, BUT, SUT, VER
MAL and VDG both pit
VET still all over the rear of HAM

03: PER fastest lap 1:23.295
DRS enabled
debris in the chicane from a previous incident
Radio from BUT complaining that PER keeps turning in on him

04: MAL f/lap 1:21.901 in clear air

05/78: ROS, HAM, VET, WEB, RAI, ALO, PER, BUT, SUT, VER
SUT looking to line up BUT

06: Radio for CHI telling him to pick up his pace, then his teammate (BIA) told if CHI doesn’t go faster they’ll do something about it
VDG f/lap 1:21.201

07: PER still being quite heavy-handed in blocking his teammate

08: ROS maintaining a small lead over HAM, who in turn is still holding off VET
MAL f/lap 1:20.941

09: Radio for WEB telling him to look after his tyres
PIC stopped at the pit entrance – leaps out of his Caterham – fire quickly dealt with by the marshals

10/78: ROS, HAM, VET, WEB, RAI, ALO, PER, BUT, SUT, VER
DIR pits; switches to primes

11: PIC’s car pushed into the pit lane
BUT has passed PER for P7
BBC report PER was told to let BUT pass “due to earlier incident”

12: DIR f/lap 1:20.558
Radio for MAS – “use 2nd gear in chicane” to save tyres (1st causes wheel spin)
BBC report BIA’s problem on the grid was gear selection
VDG cut turn 10

15/78: ROS, HAM, VET, WEB, RAI, ALO, BUT, PER, SUT, VER; retirements: PIC
DIR f/lap 1:20.209

16: Radio for ROS – “pace very good”

17: Becoming a procession, as is usually the problem at Monaco 🙁

18: ROS has 2.1sec lead over HAM, who in turn has a 2.2sec gap to VET

19: ALO picking up his pace and closing on RAI

20/78: ROS, HAM, VET, WEB, RAI, ALO, BUT, PER, SUT, VER; retirements: PIC
Further down the field, MAS is P16

22: Radio for ROS advising him to “start ramping up the pace”; HAM told the same

23: ROS and HAM post personal fastest laps
RIC pits – he started on primes
BIA pits too

24: MAL spears BIA as the enter the chicane; damage to MAL’s front wing

25/78: WEB f/lap 1:19.750
ROS told to up the pace again; echoed for HAM

26: WEB pits; first of the front runners
DIR has passed MAS for P15 – wow, an overtake at Monaco!

27: RAI and BUT pit
MAS pits too
RIC f/lap 1:19.426

28: DIR past GUT for P13

29: ROS f/lap 1:19.213
ALO pits
WEB f/lap 1:19.160

30/78: HAM f/lap 1:19.127
MAS into the barriers at Ste Devote – early lock up and smacks the barriers quite hard – he’s out

31: VET pits
Safety Car deployed – first SC this season
SUT pits
MAS being attended by marshals – they’re putting on a neck brace

32[SC]: ROS pits, followed by teammate HAM
GRO crawls alongside the SC – they’re waving him past but he’s not going
SC waiting to pick up the lead car – finally ROS catches up to the SC
MAS still getting attention track-side

33[SC]: HAM’s pit stop dropped him from P2 to P4

34[SC]: MAS’s car has been cleared away
Lapped cars now allowed to overtake – only applies to VDG

35/78[SC]: ROS, VET, WEB, HAM, RAI, ALO, BUT, PER, SUT, VER; retirements: MAS, PIC
VDG makes it past the SC

36[SC]: BIA pits – 2nd stop
Everyone has switched tyres so they don’t have to stop again if they can make this set last
VDG pits

37[SC]: Radio for HAM telling him to use higher gears to cool the engine
Medical car has left Ste Devote after attending to MAS

38[SC]: Lights off on the SC = in at the end of this lap
ROS backs off a little to back everyone up before the green flag
DRS disabled for 2 laps after SC period

39 = half distance: ROS pulls away a little from VET

40/78: ROS, VET, WEB, HAM, RAI, ALO, BUT, PER, SUT, VER
ALO all over the gearbox of RAI
HAM takes a look at WEB as they approach the chicane
HAM attacks through Rascasse but has to let WEB go

41: DRS enabled
WEB defends the line through Rascasse this time

42: BUT looks at a move on ALO – taps the Ferrari’s wheel
PER past BUT in the chicane – takes P7 from his teammate

44: PER attacks ALO into the chicane – forces ALO to cut the chicane to avoid contact

45/78: PER whines on the radio that ALO cut the chicane – of course he did, because you pushed him there!

46: CHI squeezes MAL – contact – MAL gets airborne and slams into the tyre wall – that was nasty!
Tyre wall dislodged – blocking most of track
Red flag thrown very quickly – race stopped

MAL’s Williams is a mess but he’s out and walking away
Marshals busy cleaning up as the cars line up on the grid
Teams are allowed to change tyres on the grid
Some drivers out of their cars – they’ll have a 10 minute warning before the restart
No mention of any investigations as yet, but I’m sure they’ll be penalising CHI and hopefully looking at PER

Replay of incident shows CHI open the door, MAL move alongside, then CHI moves and squeezes MAL between him and the barriers
Marshals still cleaning the track
BBC describe PER as “feisty” 🙂

Race will resume at 15:35 local time
Order at the restart will be: ROS, VET, WEB, HAM, RAI, ALO, PER, BUT, SUT, VER, DIR, HUL, RIC, GRO, BOT, GUT, CHI, VDG, BIA
Retirements: MAL, MAS, PIC

Radio for PER saying ALO will have to yield P6 for cutting the chicane – that’s a bad call!
Incident involving cars 16 (MAL) and 23 (CHI) under investigation – causing a collision

Official announcement that track is now clear
Teams getting ready to restart their cars
Apparently MAL has cuts and bruises after that incident

Radio from BUT asking what tyres others are restarting on; expect it to be options
Caterham say VDG had lost KERS but should have it back after restart

Teams clear the grid, leaving the cars to restart behind the SC

SC leads away on a formation lap
Everyone on super-soft (options) except RAI, HUL, CHI & VDG
Car 6 (PER) permitted to pass car 3 (ALO) – I still think that’s a bad decision

ROS drops back from the SC again, preparing for the restart
Green flags

48/78: Expect to see a forceful pass from ALO on PER
Drive through penalty for car 23 (CHI) for causing a collision (the incident with MAL)

49: ALO attacking PER
CHI pits to serve his penalty

50/78: ROS, VET, WEB, HAM, RAI, PER, ALO, BUT, SUT, VER; retirements: MAL, MAS, PIC
DRS enabled
HAM looking for a way past WEB

52: SUT down the inside of BUT in the hairpin – takes P8

53: PER and RAI cut the chicane – someone please deal with PER!

55/78: ROS, VET, WEB, HAM, RAI, PER, ALO, SUT, BUT, VER
Radio for HAM telling him to conserve tyres; HAM says he was trying to pass WEB
BBC interview MAL – “big impact”

56: SUT challenging ALO for P7
GUT doesn’t think his option tyres will last to the end

57: ROS has 3.1sec lead over VET
SUT down the inside of ALO in the hairpin – same move he used on BUT – takes P7

59: Radio for PER warning him that SUT may attack on inside of hairpin

60/78: ROS, VET, WEB, HAM, RAI, PER, SUT, ALO, BUT, VER
BIA in the barrier at Ste Devote, somewhat down the escape road
BIA is out of his car

61: DRS disabled because there’s yellow flags (for BIA’s incident) in the DRS zone

62: BIA’s car cleared; yellow flag removed; DRS enabled

63: GRO and RIC in the escape road at the chicane
Replay shows GRO ploughed into the rear of RIC under braking for the chicane
Safety Car deployed
RIC is out (lost his rear wing) but GRO made it to the pits
That’s GRO’s 4th accident of the weekend!

64[SC]: SC picks up ROS
GUT pits, followed by CHI
Lots of debris at the chicane

65/78[SC]: Great line from David Coulthard – the tricky bit starts when you leave the garage and runs until the end of the race 🙂
GRO pits again; pushed into the garage
Investigation involving cars 19 (RIC) and 8 (GRO) under investigation – causing a collision
Slow-mo replay of a pigeon trying to get out of the way of ROS 🙂

66[SC]: Radio for RAI – losing water from the engine because it’s too hot
SC in at the end of this lap

67: Another clean start by ROS
Radio from HAM – “left front graining heavily”

68: ROS already building a gap over VET

69: DRS enabled
RAI and PER cut the chicane

70/78: ROS, VET, WEB, HAM, RAI, PER, SUT, ALO, BUT, VER; retirements: GRO, RIC, BIA, MAL, MAS, PIC
Replay shows PER hit RAI
RAI struggling
BUT inside ALO – takes P7

71: RAI pits – puncture
Sadly PER is still running

72: GUT f/lap 1:18.685

73: RAI f/lap 1:17.941 but he’s down in P16
PER has a lot of cars bunched up behind him
PER cuts the chicane
PER wants to pit but everyone’s between him and the entrance – shame! 🙂

74: PER parks his McLaren – hooray!

75/78: ROS, VET, WEB, HAM, SUT, BUT, ALO, VER, DIR, HUL
ROS now 4sec clear of VET

77: VER closing on ALO
BOT battling HUL for P10
RAI takes P11 from BOT

78 = final lap: VET f/lap 1:16.577 – where did that come from? Frustrated with being told to conserve tyres
Radio for VET telling him not to do that – “no points for that”; VET replies “but satisfaction”

ROS takes the chequered flag, 30 years after his father (Keke) won the Monaco Grand Prix 🙂
RAI past HUL to claim P10

Provisional result: ROS, VET, WEB, HAM, SUT, BUT, ALO, VER, DIR, RAI; HUL, BOT, GUT, CHI, VDG
DNF: PER, GRO, RIC, BIA, MAL, MAS, PIC

Next race: Canada in 2 weeks.