Nico Rosberg
Photo courtesy and copyright Daimler Global Media
Managing Monaco
By Pete Vack
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media, unless otherwise noted
Monaco often turns into a procession, and this year despite the obligatory pit stops for tires, it was nevertheless a long single file march to the checkered flag.
Roughly two hours later and a half a world away, the race at Indy witnessed a record number of racing lead changes (ok, a few were agreed upon). It was superb watching for the entire 500 miles and the finish was heartbreaking.
That said, Monaco is a grand and glorious promenade that has no equal. And even though passing is virtually impossible unless agreed upon, the race rarely fails to be exciting from start to finish. And it never fails to list as its winners the very, very best in the business.
The race itself may be mostly time management, as Rosberg put it, and winning at Monaco is an example of managing one’s resources and time to the extreme. To enjoy watching this one must be possessed of enduring patience and interest in technicalities, tire compounds, rules and more rules, and understanding strategy among half of the field (the other half is still uncompetitive but give it time!) Such mental rectitude is unheard of at NASCAR and often Indy, for they pay their money to watch a race and not a chess match.
Still, give me Monaco over Indy. And there have been some mighty boring Indys in the past.
We must mention here, not totally unbiased, that the F1 coverage provided by SpeedTV far outshines that of the much vaunted Network presentation of the Indy 500. Our thanks to Varsha, Matchett and Hobbs for being just so consistently good and watching Indy coverage brought that home.
The race by the grid, first five rows
Webber Pole Position
Despite a mid race challenge from teammate Vettel, Webber commanded the race and did a superb job, never setting a footprint wrong. Even though in the best of physical condition, Webber was markedly tired on the podium, as were both Rosberg and Alonso. Very tough race, and it showed. Webber’s well deserved win made it six for six different winning drivers this year so far.
Rosberg, Row 1
Rosberg has come of age, though it took ages to do so. Or, perhaps, he now has gotten the measure of his much improved machine. He qualified second and placed second, and perhaps could have gained his second victory, had not Monaco been, well, Monaco. This could be his year.
Hamilton Row 2
Another tough race for Hamilton and another tough race for McLaren, who seem unable to get it together this year. Yet he was in contention for most of the event, running as high as third before finishing up in fifth.
Grosjean Row 2
He had high hopes for Monaco, but was eliminated in the usual melee at the beginning of the race that involved himself, Kobayashi, De LaRosa, Maldonado and Schumacher.
Alonso Row 3
Started in third, finished in third. The Ferrari now seems to have improved and may be a real contender this year. Alonso now leads in the Driver’s Championship but there is oh-so-long –a-way to go yet.
Schumacher Row 3
Full of promise, hope and smiles before the race, Monaco was yet another disappointment for our AARP champ. After getting behind due to the first lap muck up, he retired on lap 65 with fuel problems.
Massa Row 4
Massa, is now driving better than ever before, and we might remind ourselves of his miraculous recovery from what was a fatal accident minus one inch. He’s driving for his job no doubt, finishing sixth.
Raikkonen Row 4
Hot and cold, Kimi is right there at the front and then nowhere. Running seventh behind Vettel early in the race, he may have lost the tire wars as he fell back and eventually finished in ninth. He’s our vote for the next winner so we can keep the game of musical podium chairs going.
Vettel Row 5
As mentioned, by mid race, Vettel no doubt thought that he had another one in the bag, going on and on while others came into the pits for new rubber, Vettel took the lead and tried to wait out for the chance of rain. By lap 46 in the lead but not enough of a lead, he had to come in for the super soft compound. He finished fourth.
Hulkenberger Row 5
The Hulk finished up in 8th position, not bad for the Force India team.
New World Grand Prix of Canada in two weeks.
Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa
The two Ferraris and Michael Schumacher (bottom right)
Photo courtesy and copyright Daimler Global Media
Felipe Massa
Race Results
| 1 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | 1h46m06.557s |
| 2 | ROSBERG | Mercedes | + 0.6s |
| 3 | ALONSO | Ferrari | + 0.9s |
| 4 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | + 1.3s |
| 5 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 4.1s |
| 6 | MASSA | Ferrari | + 6.1s |
| 7 | DI RESTA | Force India-Mercedes | + 41.5s |
| 8 | HULKENBERG | Force India-Mercedes | + 42.5s |
| 9 | Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | + 44.0s |
| 10 | SENNA | Williams-Renault | + 44.5s |
| 11 | PEREZ | Sauber-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 12 | VERGNE | STR-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 13 | KOVALAINEN | Caterham-Renault | + 1 lap |
| 14 | GLOCK | Marussia-Cosworth | + 1 lap |
| 15 | KARTHIKEYAN | HRT-Cosworth | + 2 laps |
| 16 | BUTTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 8 laps, accident damage |
| 17 | RICCIARDO | STR-Ferrari | + 13 lap, steering damage |
| 18 | PIC | Marussia-Cosworth | + 14 laps, electrical |
| 19 | SCHUMACHER | MERCEDES | + 15 laps, fuel pressure |
| 20 | PETROV | Caterham-Renault | + 63 laps, electrical |
| 21 | KOBAYASHI | Sauber-Ferrari | + 73 laps, accident damage |
| 22 | DE LA ROSA | HRT-Cosworth | + 78 laps, accident damage |
| 23 | MALDONADO | Williams-Renault | + 78 laps, accident damage |
| 24 | GROSJEAN | Lotus-Renault | + 78 laps, accident |
| Fastest Lap |
PEREZ | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m17.296s |
Note – Maldonado dropped 10 grid spots for collision in FP3, plus five for gearbox change. Schumacher dropped five for collision at last round. Perez failed to set Q time – raced at stewards’ discretion; dropped five grid spots for gearbox change.
Driver’s Championship Standings
| 1 | ALONSO | Ferrari | 76 Points |
| 2 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 73 Points |
| 3 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | 73 Points |
| 4 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 63 Points |
| 5 | ROSBERG | Mercedes | 59 Points |
| 6 | Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 51 Points |
| 7 | BUTTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 45 Points |
| 8 | GROSJEAN | Lotus-Renault | 35 Points |
| 9 | MALDONADO | Williams-Renault | 29 Points |
| 10 | PEREZ | Sauber-Ferrari | 22 Points |
| 11 | DI RESTA | Force India-Mercedes | 21 Points |
| 12 | KOBAYASHI | Sauber-Ferrari | 19 Points |
| 13 | SENNA | Williams-Renault | 15 Points |
| 14 | MASSA | Ferrari | 10 Points |
| 15 | HULKENBERG | Force India-Mercedes | 7 Points |
| 16 | VERGNE | STR-Ferrari | 4 Points |
| 17 | RICCIARDO | STR-Ferrari | 2 Points |
| 18 | SCHUMACHER | Mercedes | 2 Points |
Constructor’s Championship Standings
| 1 | RBR-RENAULT | 146 Points |
| 2 | McLAREN-MERCEDES | 108 Points |
| 3 | FERRARI | 86 Points |
| 4 | LOTUS-RENAULT | 86 Points |
| 5 | MERCEDES | 61 Points |
| 6 | WILLIAMS-RENAULT | 44 Points |
| 7 | SAUBER-FERRARI | 41 Points |
| 8 | FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES | 28 Points |
| 9 | STR-FERRARI | 6 Points |
Although the Grosjean accident was dismissed as a “racing incident”, I slowly replayed it and it looks to me that Alonso may be the cause of the what happened. Autosport.com did say that Alonso’s left rear tire had contact with Grosjean’s right front. The picture shown above clearly shows Alonso’s car heading in that direction. My replay showed the rest where the tires contacted and, although not shown, caused Grosjean to lose control.
Aside: Can anything be done to make F1 cars beautiful again? I will admit that part of the reason I was drawn to Grand Prix many years ago was that the cars were compellingly gorgeous objects, almost works of art. Aerodynamics have been increasingly compromising that aspect for many generations of F1 cars, and I understand the reasons why, but it is now to the point that there is virtually no trace of beauty left in them. Eye of the beholder and all that, so you may feel differently, but while they are techological marvels, to me they are graceless, insect-like and a visual blight. Sometimes it takes a while to see the beauty in things, but I’ve tried and I can’t. Alas.
I fully agree with George4908 comments . Cars are really awful . In fact all present F1 have nothing to do with real racing . Not to mention the drivers which excepting a couple ( let’s say Shumy , Kimi .. ) have no charisma at all . Have you see any faces more boring than Alonso’s , Masa , Rosberg , Webber …ones ? They look so much under pressure that even in the podium no smiles comes out .
I totally agree with george4908. They look as long as a 40′ trailer truck, and appear to be put together from kids Transformers toy spare parts. “Fugly” and getting Fuglier. But they sure go like stink! Mr. Vack has a good point, too…I am a longtime F1 fan but once qualifying and the first few laps are run it’s just a boring procession and a contest for fastest pit crew. Much wider tracks – allowing real passing – would make it interesting.
Now, let’s talk about how Bernie’s young daughter’s can pay $90 mil+, for part time apartments & houses.