.:: 2009 Monaco GP Thread ::.

2009 MONACO GP

Welcome to the 2009 Monaco GP Thread. cjek will update the thread with the latest times as they happen.

RANDOM FACT

The 1982 race was named "the race no one wanted to win" - On the final 3 laps, the final 5 leaders of the race all either spun or retired.

POINTS OF DISCUSSION

1. Does Monaco have a place in modern F1 anymore?
2. Last year's race was fairly action-packed thanks to the wet weather - what was your moment of the race?
3. Let's not forget Sutil had a storming race until getting rammed up the backside by then-World Champion Raikkonen - what has been your thoughts about Sutil since that race?
4. Traditionally with Monaco, practice is on Thursday and not Friday - should practice move to Friday in Monaco?
5. Do you feel Vettel could've won in Spain if it wasn't for Massa getting the jump on him at the start?
6. Speaking of Massa, Ferrari improved massively in Spain - yet still only walked away with three points. Where is the weak link in Ferrari?
7. A Ferrari has not won the Monaco GP since 2001 as well - will the trend break this year or not?

SCHEDULE FOR WEEKEND

Thursday 21
First practice: 1000-1130 (0900-1030 BST)
Second practice: 1400-1530 (1300-1430 BST)

Saturday 23
Third practice: 1100-1200 (1000-1100 BST)
Qualifying: 1400 (1300 BST)

Sunday 24
Race: 1400 (1300 BST)

WEEKEND WEATHER

THURSDAY: Sunny, Max. 26 deg. cent.
-----------------------------------------
SATURDAY: Sunny, Max. 24 deg. cent.
SUNDAY: Sunny, Max. 26 deg. cent.

PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY: Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull). 2PM BST.

THURSDAY: Norbert Haug (Mercedes), Vijay Mallya (Force India), Mario Theissen (BMW Sauber) and Frank Williams (Williams). 3PM BST.

BBC PRESENTS THE MONACO GP

PREVIOUS SESSIONS

Thursday Practice 1
Thursday Practice 2
Qualifying
Race

1. Yes, I think Monaco does have a place in F1. A street circuit it may be, but the glitz and glamour of the event is second to none. That said, I much prefer wet Monaco races.

2 and 3. Sutil's great race being ended by an inexplicable Kimi error. Since then, I'd say that Sutil has certainly shown flashes of speed. On the other hand, he has also shown himself to be quite accident prone, but I'd still like to see him get a better drive than the Force India at some point.

4. I don't think it really matters if practice is on a Thursday or Friday. Moving it to a Friday would bring it into line with the rest of the races, but the Thursday is traditional and hasn't caused any problems in the past, so I say leave it as it is.

5. No, I don't think Vettel would have won. He would have ended up on the podium certainly, but I still think Button would have had enough speed to hold him off.

6. Ferrari will come good eventually. The 'weak link' is the inability to come to grips with the new rule changes as quickly as say, Brawn or Red Bull. I expect that they will improve in leaps and bounds. That said, I can't believe they let Ross Brawn go to Honda/head up Brawn GP.

7. No, I think Ferrari will have to wait a little longer for another Monaco win. I'm predicting a Red Bull win this weekend, and strangely enough I don't think it will be Vettel. I'm getting a vibe that Webber may break through for his maiden win. Well here's hoping anyway. :P

1.  Absloutely.  There's so much history and glamour involved with that race, it's hard to imagine F1 without it.  While some people might find it boring because it's a relatively slow circuit, that's part of the reason why I love watching it.  Given the fact that making up positions is really difficult, it makes whatever overtaking maneuvers that much more fun to watch.

2.  Without a doubt, Sutil making his way up to 4th.

3.  I think he's a good driver in a bad car.  A lot of his better moments are in the wet and his dry races are sub-par at best so I'm yet to be truly blown away.

4.  I never understood that either.  I think they should just move it to Friday because it wouldn't make much of a difference.

5.  It would've been a much closer race but I don't think he would've won.

6.  Until the start of the European leg, it's easy to put the blame on the car.  I mean, let's face it, the F60 wasn't exactly the best car on the grid.  But the updates Ferrari have brought to Spain have improved their pace immensely so now I think it's more of a human factor than a mechanical one.  Case in point, the costly qualifying errors which they committed not once, but twice, as well as that fiasco with Massa's fuel.  They have a relatively good car again, so it's up to the people to get their act together.  Ferrari aren't top dog anymore and they have to free themselves from that mentality.

7.  I wouldn't bet on it.

As much as I dislike Monaco some years while watching it, the calendar would feel empty without it. No Monaco is far worse than no Spa or Silverstone.

Moment of the race for 2008? Had to be Hamilton hitting the wall, which changed his strategy to a winning one. Seeing Sutil in 4th was also impressive.

Sutil is a good driver in a bad car really. When he has his day, he outperforms Fisichella, but he really needs to find a place in a better team. Unfortunately the driver market was non-existent over the winter and we had few driver changes.

Vettel could have won in Spain, but we can never be sure of his true race pace that day. The Brawn 1-2 indicates that maybe Seb would have struggled to win, but again, we can never know.

Ferrari are simply unreliable right now, and strategic errors are evident too. Twice they've carelessly been knocked out in Q1, and too many times have their cars retired or have been slowed by technical problems this season. The pace is promising though, but Monaco is out of reach this season.

1. No, Monaco can go bye bye :D I say it every chance I get!
2. Kimi losing control, I've never seen a car swap which direction it's pointing quite so dramatically EVER. (This coming from a guy who has seen his dad roll a drag car 12 and a half times at over 120MPH)
3. Sutil has never really impressed me. On his day can beat Fisi? Well Fisi has won 3 races. 2 of them for Renault. Renualt WON the world championships in those years. Could do better.
4. Nah, who cares.
5. Maybe, would need a bit of effot from the Red Bull strategy team but so far they have done a pretty good job.
6. Pit blunders and strategy error, nothing more really. (Well reliability maybe...)
7. Not this year methinks.

Classic Monaco GP's... including the said 1982 race in the random fact.

1961 | 1981 | 1982 | 1992 | 1996

Extended Highlights

1982 | 1996

1. Yes

2. Rosberg blasted it.

3. He is one of the better low ranked driver.

4. yes. Because it gives us more time to predict in our Predictions Championship.

5. Dunno

6. They don't get Brawn GP's blueprints (oh my) - that make they weak

7. Hope so. I'd like to see red more, after white-yellow and dark blue. - you know,right?

Classic Monaco GP's... including the said 1982 race in the random fact.

1961 | 1981 | 1982 | 1992 | 1996

Extended Highlights

1982 | 1996

Redders1989

Uh, why not 1984? With Senna's Toleman?

[QUOTE="Redders1989"]

Classic Monaco GP's... including the said 1982 race in the random fact.

1961 | 1981 | 1982 | 1992 | 1996

Extended Highlights

1982 | 1996

kono11

Uh, why not 1984? With Senna's Toleman?

A lot of people wanted it, but alas, it didn't get voted in. Beeb say it'll be in their selection of five next year.

THE RED LIGHT

The link in the title leads to the new version of "The Red Light" - available on YouTube.

Monaco provides a unique challenge - nowhere else in F1 is there so little run off area (although Singapore now comes close), but the tight and twisy nature of the circuit makes it the slowest on average of all the circuits. This is going to benefit those cars which have aerodynamic flaws - so expect a stronger than usual performance from the McLaren team.

Due to the nature of the circuit as well, there will be one-off chances for victory for the Monaco specialists - Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli will also have their best chances here this year, but if they don't win here they have more opportunities later.

Of the front runners however, Red Bull have really got the chance to fight for the title now against Brawn GP. The double decker diffuser will give Vettel and Webber the push they need to take victory in Monaco, but it's all about qualifying. Overtaking is notoriously difficult here, but not impossible - as Heidfeld and Webber showed against Alonso in the 2005 race. Brawn GP still looks like the best bet for a win, but Webber will be the biggest threat to them this weekend.

Whilst unlikely, if the rain hits then watch yet again for Adrian Sutil. In his first visit in 2007, he topped the Saturday practice session in the wet and then in 2008 had the storming race to 4th until an out-of-control Raikkonen rammed up into the back of him. Sutil is a star at this circuit, but still needs to be more consistent to push himself further forward in F1.

A notable feature in recent years is that crashes have been less frequent (barring last year) and that drivers are more precice - hence the need for a strong qualifying becomes more vital. Drivers cannot hope for their rivals to make numerous mistakes as it simply doesn't happen all that much anymore. You have to go back to 2004 for the last Monaco GP in which more than half the field retired.

So, can Red Bull bring the title challenge back to Brawn this weekend? Put it this way: if they don't, they will in Turkey.

PRACTICE 1

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:17.189            25
 2.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:17.499  + 0.310   31
 3.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:17.578  + 0.389   25
 4.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:17.686  + 0.497   29
 5.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:17.839  + 0.650   30
 6.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:18.000  + 0.811   29
 7.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:18.024  + 0.835   27
 8.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:18.080  + 0.891   27
 9.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:18.283  + 1.094   30
10.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:18.348  + 1.159   22
11.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:18.695  + 1.506   36
12.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:19.204  + 2.015   36
13.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:19.233  + 2.044   16
14.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:19.255  + 2.066   30
15.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:19.534  + 2.345   27
16.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:19.560  + 2.371   20
17.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:19.579  + 2.390   22
18.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:19.600  + 2.411   23
19.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:19.698  + 2.509   23
20.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:19.831  + 2.642   28

AUTOSPORT 

RED BULL TO USE NEW DIFFUSER IN MONOCO

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber's hopes of victory in the Monaco Grand Prix have been boosted with their Red Bull Racing team giving the green light to use its new double-decker diffuser this weekend.

Design staff at Red Bull's Milton Keynes factory have been working flat out for several weeks to get the new part onto the car, following the FIA's final approval of the concept prior to the Chinese Grand Prix.

The pullrod rear suspension layout of the RB5 meant that it was tight to get the diffuser on the car in time for this weekend's event in Monte Carlo, but chief technical officer Adrian Newey confirmed on Wednesday that both drivers would be using the tweaks from first practice.

"Yes, we've got the double diffuser," said Newey, when asked by AUTOSPORT about the latest situation. "We are going to fit it on both cars, and see how we get on.

"We run load cells to try and measure the downforce of the car around the circuit, and if at the end of the session we have concerns then we will review the rest of the weekend.

"There is an element of risk in putting it on both cars, in terms of, does it perform as predicted by the wind tunnel? Is there a mechanical problem that we have not thought of that causes the cars to break down? But we've decided to take that risk - as we would rather find out about it.

"The other thing is that if we had only put it on one car, then Murphy's Law around here dictates that that will be the car that ends up in the wall on the first lap and we won't learn anything about it. That is why we will fit it on both cars."

Although double-decker diffusers have been viewed as a key to the early season success of Brawn, Newey is more cautious about the potential benefits his team will enjoy around the streets of Monaco.

"It should bring a bit [of an improvement]," he said. "It is a misconception that Monaco is a very low-speed circuit. Obviously in average lap speed it is, but there are some reasonably quick corners here so downforce is important."

Webber, who finished on the podium at the Spanish Grand Prix, hoped the new diffuser would bring a performance step – but felt bigger benefits were coming from other areas of the car.

"Hopefully it's quicker," he said. "We want lap time from it. The honest answer is we don't know how much quicker it will be.

"It's another development item. There has been so much talk about double diffusers, but we've put more performance on the car in other areas than a double-deck diffuser."

AUTOSPORT 

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber's hopes of victory in the Monaco Grand Prix have been boosted with their Red Bull Racing team giving the green light to use its new double-decker diffuser this weekend...mjk1

...and now damaged as a result of the engine failure and potential engine/gearbox issues :lol:

Heh... two cooked engines already? Strange.

Kubica must be getting annoyed. That's engine 4 (or even 5) gone now, so there's only 4 (or 3) fresh engines left!

LOLFAIL.

Telementary error screwed Massa's race in Spain - there was plenty of fuel for Felipe to get to the end!

What's up with those weather predictions? Sunny for all periods? Surely that can't be right :P

The results of first practice are above, but they rarely mean anything, with cars playing around with all sorts of fuel loads. Clearly Button and Barrichello are running different loads, and the fact that Toyota are way down the back suggests they are more than likely running race fuel levels. I'll wait for qualifying rather than read into practice figures

PRACTICE 2

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:15.243            45
 2.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:15.445  + 0.202   34
 3.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:15.590  + 0.347   40
 4.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:15.774  + 0.531   35
 5.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:15.832  + 0.589   41
 6.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:15.847  + 0.604   33
 7.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:15.984  + 0.741   44
 8.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:15.985  + 0.742   42
 9.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:16.260  + 1.017   42
10.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:16.286  + 1.043   42
11.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:16.552  + 1.309   38
12.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:16.579  + 1.336   27
13.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:16.675  + 1.432   37
14.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:16.915  + 1.672   42
15.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:16.983  + 1.740   47
16.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:17.052  + 1.809   47
17.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:17.109  + 1.866   39
18.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:17.207  + 1.964   44
19.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:17.504  + 2.261   44
20.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  No time              2

AUTOPSORT 

Alas the unusually schedule of Thursday practice has thrawted my efforts to post Monaco GP predictions. :(

And just for my opinion, Monaco should stay around, if nothing else there is no other track anything like it.

So many areas of the track are part of an F1 fan's vocabulary, the Hairpin, the Tunnel, the Swimming Pool.

BRILLIANT! :lol:

"The crowd cheered as if it all made sense"

Oh man... Charlie Whiting has sent a letter to all teams saying that drivers will be reported to the stewards if they "use too much of the kerbs"...

On another note, a celebration of Mr. Barrichello's 37th birthday today.

Oh man... Charlie Whiting has sent a letter to all teams saying that drivers will be reported to the stewards if they "use too much of the kerbs"...

On another note, a celebration of Mr. Barrichello's 37th birthday today.

Redders1989

[QUOTE="Redders1989"]

Oh man... Charlie Whiting has sent a letter to all teams saying that drivers will be reported to the stewards if they "use too much of the kerbs"...

On another note, a celebration of Mr. Barrichello's 37th birthday today.

Bigcol1611

And now you can hate the other Brawn GP driver - Button has just done the fastest lap this weekend. Now means if you want those three points, Rosberg has to top this session!

McLaren and Ferrari looking much stronger it seems.. 

Sebastian Vettel commenting on his Catwalk experience - At Amber Fashion event for Elton John Aids Foundation: Friday

Sebastian Vettel, the fashion debutant: "It's my first time so please be patient with me. I feel that the profile of my shoes do not have enough grip. Feels like running on slicks! And don't say anything about my hairstyle tonight. It is not the latest wind tunnel model from Adrian (Newey) - it was just an accident after the shower!"

OFFICIAL F1 WEBSITE

:lol: 

What the...? How'd you pull that one off Massa!?!

EDIT: Hamilton smashes it! I don't Adam and Eve it!

Raikkonen certianly did do that but that was back when drivers did a single flying lap on fumes and then a lap on race fuel on Sunday morning with the times being added together. Raikkonen managed a lap 8 tenths faster than Alonso on the Saturday so they could afford to go well over HALF race distance in a single stint.

Oopps... Hamilton got that wrong, red flag!

I wouldn't discount the Red Bull's just yet they're running strong enough in early quali :)

The biggest casualty Q1 ever?

Hamilton
Heidfeld
Kubica
Trulli
Glock

Whut!?!

Last year that could have been the podium results after the race - this season they get knocked out in Q1 :shock:

Didn't really see much of the toyotas, though one appeared to have spun out on their last lap.

How does he keep doing it!?!

BRILLIANT! ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! :D:D:D:D:D

That didn't look likely all weekend.. Button has once again shown a burst of hidden pace to take another pole. Hamilton could have been right up there if he hadn't have crashed in Q1 which is a pity really. And Toyota? The result says it all really. The car simply cannot handle Monaco.

POST-QUALIFYING CAR WEIGHTS - MONOCO

Pos  Driver                  Weight (kg.)
 1.  Jenson Button            647.5 
 2.  Kimi Raikkonen           644.0 
 3.  Rubens Barrichello       648.0 
 4.  Sebastian Vettel         631.5 
 5.  Felipe Massa             643.5 
 6.  Nico Rosberg             642.0 
 7.  Heikki Kovalainen        644.0 
 8.  Mark Webber              646.5 
 9.  Fernando Alonso          654.0 
10.  Kazuki Nakajima          668.0 
11.  Sebastien Buemi          670.0*
12.  Nelson Piquet            673.1*
13.  Giancarlo Fisichella     693.0*
14.  Sebastien Bourdais       699.5*
15.  Adrian Sutil             670.0*
16.  Lewis Hamilton           645.5*
17.  Nick Heidfeld            680.0*
18.  Robert Kubica            696.0*
19.  Jarno Trulli             688.3*
20.  Timo Glock               700.8*

* declared weight

Vettel seems to be the out one out, running very light compared to the field. He did say he was held up so maybe thats way he's not higher up the field. Ferrari and Williams both seem to have found some pace.

Hamilton to start from back of grid

Lewis Hamilton will start from the back of the grid at the Monaco Grand Prix after a penalty for changing his car's gearbox.

The Briton wrecked his chances of fighting for victory in Monaco after crashing his McLaren in the first qualifying segment.

Hamilton qualified in 16th position, but his McLaren team has decided to change his car's gearbox ahead of the race, meaning the world champion will get a 10-place grid penalty that will send him to the back of the grid.

"We have collectively decided that we have to change the gearbox, because of damage. So he will be starting from the back," said team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

SOURCE: Autosport

Hamilton qualified in 16th position, but his McLaren team has decided to change his car's gearbox ahead of the race, meaning the world champion will get a 10-place grid penalty that will send him to the back of the grid.yuxwallin

Considering how good Autosport are with F1 news, it's highly odd to seem them make that mistake!

All seems to be looking good there for another Button win... although, he needs to keep Raikkonen behind. I feel Jens could do a Hamilton-style cut in order to make that happen.Redders1989

i have a feeling Raikkonen is going to overtake Button at the start and go on to win the grand prix

[QUOTE="Redders1989"]All seems to be looking good there for another Button win... although, he needs to keep Raikkonen behind. I feel Jens could do a Hamilton-style cut in order to make that happen.McManus107

i have a feeling Raikkonen is going to overtake Button at the start and go on to win the grand prix

Honestly, I am scared about that. Given Button's poor starts recently, the only advantage Jens has is Kimi really can't use KERS down to turn 1 - there's not enough distance to use it. I'll basically be praying Kimi doesn't, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does.

Ferrari are back, and I hope that makes them more likely to sign up next year. Button is unstoppable however; Honda have produced a fantastic car, and under a new name have got the best out of it with a quality driver line up and successful improvements. Well done to the team.

"MONACO BABY, YEAH!"

If it wasn't enough to win the race, he'll just go for a jog as well afterwards!

1. Apologies for Qualifying only being added to the first post now; was out partying last night :lol:

2. Apologies for no streaming available for the Monaco GP today - completely slipped my mind :oops: