2012 Monaco Grand Prix.

[Swami]

Through the streets of Monaco this weekend, and as tradition dictates, first practice takes place on the Thursday, then qualifying on Saturday.

Come on McLaren, do the business!

Swami

[Swami]

Monaco GP: McLaren's Jenson Button fastest in second practice
By Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco McLaren's Jenson Button was fastest from Lotus's Romain Grosjean in practice at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Englishman was one of very few drivers to run the faster of the two tyre types, before a rain shower 15 minutes into the afternoon session.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso earlier set the pace in the first session, run in beautiful morning sunshine, by 0.365 secs from Grosjean.

Intermittent spells of rain wrecked the rest of the second session.

That meant Button's fastest time of one minute 15.746 seconds, which was 0.392 secs quicker than Grosjean, held for the rest of the afternoon.

Button, whose team-mate Lewis Hamilton was 11th fastest in the afternoon, said: "It's not a lot of running for a Thursday at Monaco. Hopefully Saturday will be a bit better."

Continue reading the main story
“It's not a lot of running for a Thursday at Monaco. Hopefully Saturday will be a bit better”

Jenson Button

The forecast for qualifying day on Saturday is that there is an 80% chance of rain, however.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, showing improved form after being warned by his team to up his game following disappointing performances so far this season, was third fastest in the second session, just ahead of team-mate Alonso.

Williams driver Pastor Maldonado, who also ran the faster 'super-soft' tyre, was fifth fastest, ahead of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes and Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi was eighth fastest, ahead of Rosberg's team-mate Michael Schumacher and world champion Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull.

Button was 11th fastest in the morning session, which Alonso topped by 0.365 secs from Grosjean. Sauber's Sergio Perez was 0.081 secs behind the Frenchman and Hamilton was 0.036 secs further back in fourth.

Alonso said afterwards on Twitter: "Good Thursday in Monaco, gaining confidence with the car. Happy."

The first session came to a premature end when the engine in Heikki Kovalainen's Caterham blew up in the tunnel with seven minutes remaining.

Maldonado, who won the last race in Spain, was fifth, ahead of Massa, Kobayashi, Button, Vettel and Rosberg.

The mixed line-ups in both sessions bode well for another competitive, unpredictable race.

"This year's racing is really competitive," said BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson. "That's seven different cars in the top 10 and any one of those guys could win the race.

"It bodes so well for the different chassis having some success. We've got two Ferraris, Saubers and McLarens up there. The first Red Bull comes in ninth. Even Lotus and Williams are looking strong."

Alonso, Grosjean and Hamilton, in particular, looked impressive out on the track in the dry.

They swapped fastest times throughout the first session, with the Lotus going fastest, then the Ferrari before Hamilton took top spot.

Grosjean then took it back, before Alonso finally grabbed it for good with a lap in one minute 16.265 seconds.

Two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen, watching at the second Swimming Pool chicane, told Anderson: "Monaco is a difficult circuit to drive because the barriers are so close.

"You need to have the perfect run and have maximum concentration to get a good lap. It looks like the Lotus is really strong here. Nico Rosberg is looking confident as well but it's still too early to say."

Grosjean said: "I like Monaco. I like the track; it's good fun. The car is going well at the moment and let's see what we can do later on. It is important to have a car you are confident with."

Grosjean's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen failed to set a lap time after asking for a change of steering rack because he did not like the feel of the first one.

The Finn, who has not raced in Monaco since 2009, was 19th fastest in the second session.

Raikkonen looked impressive when he ran on intermediate tyres on a damp track at the end - two seconds faster than other drivers who were out there running at the same time.

Swami

[Swami]

Monaco GP: Michael Schumacher quickest but Mark Webber on pole
By Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher sensationally took pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix but will start from sixth place after a grid penalty.

Red Bull's Mark Webber will be on pole position after losing out to the veteran German by 0.08 seconds.

Schumacher's team-mate Nico Rosberg was third ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Lotus's Romain Grosjean.

Jenson Button, 13th fastest, will start 12th after a grid penalty for Pastor Maldonado.

“It confirms what I have felt for a long time, but sometimes you have to put everything in the right moment together”

Michael Schumacher

Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn said: "I have to admit I had a bit of a tear in my eye. He's faced some tough times since his comeback but he has been in good shape all weekend."

Schumacher added: "I'm more than thrilled to manage pole position here. It is the race you want to do well at and after what I have been through in the last two years it is just fabulous.

"It confirms what I have felt for a long time, but sometimes you have to put everything in the right moment together."

The top three drivers were covered by just 0.147 secs in an intense qualifying session, in which Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished sixth.

The Spaniard will be the final person to be promoted following Schumacher's penalty, which was for running into the back of Williams driver Bruno Senna at the previous race in Spain.

Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa was seventh, ahead of Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, Maldonado - who will start 19th - and world championship leader Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull.

LAST 5 MONACO GP WINNERS
•2011 - Sebastian Vettel
•2010 - Mark Webber
•2009 - Jenson Button
•2008 - Lewis Hamilton
•2007 - Fernando Alonso

Hamilton said: "Very exciting, massively tough, but it was so much fun. We struggled a little bit in the middle and last sector. It was more the low-speed corners were not as quick.

"But I'm fortunate to have Michael having the penalty so I'm happy."

Webber, for whom this will be the first pole of the season, said: ""It is Michael's day. A good lap from him. It was an amazing session, wasn't it?

"Q3 was tight between the first few rows, there were some different tyre strategies going on, it was a good little battle.

"It was a good lap and it's nice to start up the front."

Schumacher's performance was the perfect answer to the criticism he has received in recent weeks.

Most recently, Nick Fry, the chief executive officer of the Mercedes team, had admitted that Schumacher would have to think about whether he wanted to continue into a new contract next season if his results did not improve.

DID YOU KNOW?
Ayrton Senna holds the record for the most wins Monaco, with six. The constructor with the most wins is McLaren, with 15.

The seven-time world champion has shown inconsistent form this season, strong in some races, but some way off the pace of Rosberg at the Chinese Grand Prix, when the younger German took a dominant victory.

He said: "I leave it to others to say what it means," adding: "I'm grateful for all the trust Mercedes had in me.

"I saw my time on the dashboard but as I was one of the first out on the track you don't know what is going to come behind. Then I saw P1 on the dashboard. It's just beautiful."

Swami

[Swami]

Very busy qualifying, here's hoping for a decent race.

Swami

[Mrs. JR Ewing]

Schumacher fasted, but Webber on the pole because of penalties.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18217660

Hamilton 4th and Button 13th..come on boys!


Ooh Swami..wouldn't you like to be in Monaco this time of year!

[Swami]

Yes, I wouldn't mind being there! But only six weeks until I go to Silverstone!

Swami

[Mrs. JR Ewing]

Yes, I wouldn't mind being there! But only six weeks until I go to Silverstone!

Swami

Oh jeeze...I will have to get Joanie and the rest of the girls together...maybe this year will catch you!

[Swami]

Oh jeeze...I will have to get Joanie and the rest of the girls together...maybe this year will catch you!

Hurry up and get it organised!

Swami

[Swami]

Monaco GP: Mark Webber wins for Red Bull in Monte Carlo
By Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco Mark Webber won the Monaco GP for the second time in three years from Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso.

The Red Bull driver led from the start and controlled the race, measuring his pace to ensure he stayed ahead.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton ran third in the early laps but lost out to Ferrari's Alonso and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel on strategy.

McLaren's Jenson Button had a difficult race, running with backmarkers after a poor start and retiring after a spin.

Super six
Mark Webber's victory has created a new record for F1 in that there has never been six different winners of the opening six grand prix of the season before

The top six, completed by Ferrari's Felipe Massa, ran nose to tail in a tense last 10 laps, enlivened by intermittent light rain.

But all kept their cool on the tricky and tight street circuit and there were no changes before the flag.

Webber's victory makes this the first Formula 1 season in history to feature six different winners in the first six races.

"I'm feeling incredible," said the Australian. "It was an interesting race. The first phase of the race was strange. It was hard to get the soft prime tyre warmed up.

"Seb had his tyres in and wasn't wearing them so he was coming back into the picture. I didn't want him to get the magic 21 second gap and take the lead.

"It's an amazing day for the team, myself and really happy to have won here again."

The result moves Alonso into the world championship lead, three points ahead of Vettel and Webber, who is classified third on results count-back.

Hamilton drops from third to fourth, 13 points adrift of the Ferrari driver.

Webber shrugged off his reputation for poor starts by leading into the first corner, followed by Mercedes' Rosberg, Hamilton and Alonso.

Up front, Webber pulled out a lead of about two seconds and controlled that gap, with Rosberg a similar margin ahead of Hamilton.

Last five Monaco GP winners
•2011 - Sebastian Vettel
•2010 - Mark Webber
•2009 - Jenson Button
•2008 - Lewis Hamilton
•2007 - Fernando Alonso

Alonso initially dropped back a little from Hamilton but he was merely saving his tyres so he could use their grip closer to the pit stops.

The strategy paid off, as when Webber and Hamilton stopped on lap 29, two laps after Rosberg, Alonso stayed out for one more lap, on which he put in the two fastest sectors of the race to that point. That allowed him to emerge ahead of Hamilton.

"The target was to try to finish in front of Sebastian and Lewis as they are with us in the championship.

"At the start I had contact with Grosjean so thought there was damage, but the car was fine. We took Hamilton at the stop with a perfect time and a perfect stop again, so well done to the team."

The leaders' stops left Vettel, who had started ninth, in the lead.

The world champion had started on the more durable 'soft' tyres as opposed to the 'super-softs' on the drivers at the front of the grid.

And his race was made by leaping up to sixth place at the start as he took to the shorter escape road at the first corner to avoid an accident triggered by Lotus's Romain Grosjean spinning after he drove into Michael Schumacher's Mercedes.

Race stewards investigated Vettel's move, which was echoed by other drivers, but decided to take no action.

Monaco Grand Prix factfile
•Venue: Monte Carlo (street circuit)
•Circuit length: 3.340km/2.075 miles
•Laps: 78
•Race distance: 260.520km/161.879miles
•Lap record: 1 min 14.439 secs (Michael Schumacher, 2004)
•2011 winner: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
•2011 pole position: Sebastian Vettel 1 min 13.556 secs
•2011 fastest lap: Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1 min 16.234 secs
•Number of corners: 16 (7 left/9 right)
•Average lap speed: 151kph (94mph)
•2011 winning strategy: One stop (L16)

Once he was running at the front, Vettel pulled out enough of a lead to enable him to stop on lap 46 and rejoin ahead of Hamilton - he needed to chop across the McLaren on the way up the hill after the first corner Sainte Devote to consolidate his position.

From that point on, the top six stayed in close contact, nervously watching the skies for the threatening rain, and driving accordingly when it did start to fall.

Only four seconds separated Webber from Hamilton at the flag, with Massa only two more behind.

"Its been world class driving from all of them - on the trickiest circuit, I have not seen a mistake from any of these guys," said BBC co-commentator David Coulthard.

It was Red Bull's third Monaco win in three years - Vettel won in 2011 - and they became the first team to win twice in 2012.

Schumacher had qualified on pole but was demoted to sixth place for causing a crash in the previous race in Spain, sipped back to eighth on the first lap as a result of Grosjean pushing him against the wall at the start.

Schumacher was seventh after the pit stops, but progressively dropped back out of the points with an engine problem, retiring on lap 64, with 14 to go.

Schumacher's misfortune moved Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne into an impressive seventh, but he lost out with a late gamble to fit intermediate tyres.

That promoted the Force Indias of Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg, with Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen and Williams driver Bruno Senna completing the top 10.

Swami

[Swami]

What has happened to McLaren - their pace is nowhere.

Swami

[Mrs. JR Ewing]

They need to get it going on the rest of the way and stop making so many mistakes!

[Swami]

There were no real mistakes yesterday, just a lack of pace.

Swami

[Mrs. JR Ewing]

There were no real mistakes yesterday, just a lack of pace.

Swami

Just the fact that Jenson crashed and didn't finish.

And now the cat fighting begins!


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18176219

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18227873

[Swami]

Well that kind of thing can happen in Monaco.

Swami