Speaking ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Felipe Massa admitted that he did not like driving around the streets of Monte Carlo much compared to the sweeping turns of say Istanbul or Spa Francorchamps. This afternoon the Brazilian probably did enjoy his time in the Principality as he has claimed pole position, the 12th of his career, for the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix by less than a tenth of a second from Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
It was a close run thing at the head of the timesheets, but Massa’s best lap of 1:15.787s would prove unbeatable as Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton both lapped the 3.340km circuit within a tenth of a second to start second and third.
With an all Ferrari front row, the Italian champions will tomorrow be chasing their first Monaco win since Michael Schumacher triumphed in 2001. Over at McLaren Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will be disappointed not to be on the front row as qualifying is so important at this circuit. Given the dominance from McLaren at this circuit last year, it is a surprise to see Ferrari ahead in qualifying this year.
It was a very mixed day for the BMW Sauber team with Robert Kubica doing a solid job to qualify his BMW Sauber in fifth position. However, Nick Heidfeld’s recent qualifying problems took a further nose-dive this afternoon as the German veteran will start the Grand Prix from a lack lustre 13th position.
Nico Rosberg had said ahead of qualifying that his realistic target was sixth position on the grid and that is what he achieved in the Toyota-powered Williams. It was a good performance to get within four-tenths of a second of Kubica.
Fernando Alonso lines up seventh in his Renault and only a late push in the second round of qualifying saw him make the final phase of qualifying. Team-mate Nelson Piquet starts a distant 17th after two errors saw him lose time in the first part of qualifying. Piquet’s only saving grace however is that he was just three-tenths off his team-mate in the same session, but unfortunately for the rookie, those tenths makes all the difference.
Jarno Trulli did his usual solid job to start eighth in the leading Toyota ahead of Mark Webber and David Coulthard for Red Bull Renault. Coulthard made the final top ten shoot out for pole position with the tenth fastest time, but a huge accident in the final second of second qualifying saw his car badly damaged.
Approaching the braking area exiting the tunnel, Coulthard’s RB4 snapped right under braking, making firm contact with the barriers. The front and rear left hand wheels broke off as the RB4 spun at high speed down the escape road before making further contact with a softer layer of tyres. Coulthard was unhurt, but it was a big - and rather strange - accident.
Timo Glock starts 11th in the second Toyota ahead of Jenson Button in the leading Honda while Rubens Barrichello starts 15th behind Heidfeld and Nakajima.
The decision to bring the new Toro Rosso Ferrari STR3 package to Monaco is a brave one and Sebastien Bourdais starts a reasonable 16th ahead of the under-pressure Piquet while Sebastian Vettel starts 18th in the second STR3 ahead of the Force India duo of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella.
Vettel however now takes a five grid position drop due to having broken the long-life gearbox rules in having the new unit – and car – at the circuit this weekend. Bourdais escapes the penalty as he did not finish the last Grand Prix.
It is Ferrari Vs McLaren again in the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix.
Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International
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