Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifying

Mercedes are storming away with the Constructors’ Championship and their two drivers each have roughly twice the points of Alonso in 3rd place. [Championship standings after the Spanish Grand Prix]

Free practice times:

1. HAM (1:18.271), ROS, RIC, ALO, VET
2. ALO (1:18.482), HAM, VET, VER, BOT [wet session]
3. HAM (1:16.758), RIC, ROS, VET, ALO

Air temperature 18°C; track 42°C; wind 1.9m/s; humidity 62%
Tyre compounds this weekend: prime=soft (yellow lettering), option=super-soft (red)
My GridBids picks are: BUT, ROS, HAM, GRO

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
ROS and HAM waiting at the pit lane exit
Lights turn green – Q1 starts
Radio for ROS – keep warming the brakes
ROS 1:25.256
HAM 1:22.837
KVY 1:21.886
VER 1:20.368
MAS 1:20.221
MAL 1:20.045
Looks like about half the cars are on the super-soft option tyres already
MAG 1:19.484
ROS 1:17.938
KVY loses it coming out of the tunnel; hits the barrier; pits for a new front wing
ROS 1:17.678
Slower cars trying to get out of the way as ALO is on a quick lap
RIC and VET yet to set a time
10mins left of Q1; bottom 6 are KOB, ERI, KVY, GRO, RIC, VET
Radio for HUL saying ERI held him up
5mins left of Q1; bottom 6 are HUL, CHI, PER, KOB, ERI, KVY
MAG over-runs in Turn 1 (Ste Devote) but gets away with it
Only a handful of cars still on primes – ROS, HAM, RIC and VET
BUT runs wide in Turn 1 this time
2mins left; bottom 6 are BOT, BIA, CHI, KOB, ERI, KVY
Yellow flag – ERI locked up and hit MAS
VER 1:17.557
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are GUT, SUT, BIA, CHI, KOB, ERI
SUT held up BIA on that last lap?
Only 4 drivers stuck with options throughout Q1 – ROS, HAM, RIC and VET
Back of the grid: GUT, SUT, BIA, CHI, KOB, ERI

How many incidents will the stewards need to review? ERI hitting MAS at least, but many complaints of blocking I suspect
MAS’ car still parked on track – will the marshals get it back to the pits in time for Q2?
Williams replace the nose on BOT’s car

Qualifying session 2
The two Mercedes car line up at pit exit again
ROS and HAM both on primes
Incident involving cars 9 (ERI) and 19 (MAS) will be investigated after qualifying – causing a collision
MAS’ car won’t make it back to the pits in time, so he’ll end up P16
ROS 1:25.920
HAM 1:22.752
HUL 1:17.931
Incident involving cars 11 (PER) and 21 (GUT) will be investigated after qualifying – impeding
RIC 1:17.769
Incident involving cars 13 (MAL) and 26 (KVY) will be investigated after qualifying – impeding
ROS 1:16.682
Radio from VET – “no K” = no kinetic energy harvesting
Only VET and GRO on track at the moment
VET goes P4 but still complaining about KERS on the radio
5mins left of Q2; bottom 6 are VER, PER, BOT, GRO, MAL, MAS
GRO improves his time but still in the drop zone
PER jumps to P8, relegating BUT
2mins left of Q2; bottom 6 are BUT, VER, GRO, BOT, MAL, MAS
ROS 1:16.465
HAM 1:16.354
BOT improves his time, as does MAL, but both still in the drop zone
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are BUT, VER, BOT, GRO, MAL, MAS
VER to P8; HUL to P11
Middle of the grid: HUL, BUT, BOT, GRO, MAL, MAS
BUT’s teammate MAG was P8

Qualifying session 3
Battling over the top 10 spots are HAM, ROS, VET, ALO, RIC, RAI, KVY, MAG, VER & PER
Green light
PER first on track
PER 1:18.327
ALO P2
RAI 1:18.132
RIC P4
ROS P4
HAM P3
KVY P3
VER 1:18.030
VET P9
MAG P3
ALO 1:16.792
RAI P2
RIC 1:16.385
ROS 1:15.989
HAM P2
VET P4
MAG P8
5mins left of Q3; order is ROS, HAM, RIC, VET, ALO, RAI, VER, MAG, PER, KVY
Everyone pits for set up changes and tyres for final flying laps
ALO P5
RAI P6
VER P7
ROS locks up, has to use the escape road – he can’t turn around
MAG P8
Chequered flag
ALO P5
HAM backs off – the yellow flags were still out for ROS
KVY P9
Front of the grid: ROS, HAM, RIC, VET, ALO, RAI, VER, MAG, KVY, PER

Provisional grid: ROS, HAM, RIC, VET, ALO, RAI, VER, MAG, KVY, PER; HUL, BUT, BOT, GRO, MAL, MAS; GUT, SUT, BIA, CHI, KOB, ERI
but of course there are a few incidents to be reviewed by the stewards.