The threat of rain is in the air here – the first time in a long time that qualifying at Monaco may be wet. Three drivers face a tough battle after crashes in free practice 3 earlier. Romain Grosjean got the chaos started when he tagged the barrier at the chicane and needed to come in for repairs. Felipe Massa then suffered a major shunt approaching the first corner. Adrian Sutil lost control at the Massenet and clouted the barrier. Grosjean then had a second accident losing the back end of his car round Ste. Devote.
Qualifying head-to-head
Vettel 5 – 0 Webber
Alonso 3 – 2 Massa
Button 4 – 1 Perez
Raikkonen 5 – 0 Grosjean
Rosberg 2 – 3 Hamilton
Hulkenberg 5 – 0 Gutierrez
Di Resta 4 – 1 Sutil
Maldonado 2 – 3 Bottas
Vergne 1 – 4 Ricciardo
Pic 3 – 2 Van der Garde
Bianchi 5 – 0 Chilton
Qualifying 1: The potentially wet weather means that the traditional 2013 wait at the start of qualifying does not happen today. Most of the drivers are out on track on intermediate tyres to set an initial time in case the ran sets in. Jules Bianchi grounds to a halt before even getting around once – his Marussia was smoking in the pit lane and probably overheated. He will be last, assuming he is allowed to race. Felipe Massa, Adrian Sutil and Romain Grosjean are the only drivers not on track – all had incidents in free practice 3 this morning. The times are tumbling throughout the session – fifteen minutes into the twenty minute session and the lead has been held by (in order of setting their times): Pic, van der Garde, Hamilton, Webber, di Resta, Alonso, Vergne, Hamilton, Webber, Maldonado, Vergne, Hamilton, di Resta, Webber, and Vettel. A dryer line is becoming clearer with half of the circuit being wet and the other apparently dry. The times seem to have settled a little. Massa and Grosjean still haven’t set a time as Rosberg sets the fastest time with 5 minutes left. Hamilton pushes the fastest time further back with the first time under 1m24s and as the track dries, there is a real danger that a big name could lose out of reaching the second session as times continue to fall and develop. Grosjean, in his repaired car, sets a fabulous lap to take the top spot, although Maldonado sets a quicker lap right at the end (1m23.452s.)
- Paul di Resta, Force India-Mercedes, 1m26.322.
- Chalres Pic, Caterham-Renault, 1m26.633s.
- Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber-Ferrari, 1m26.917s.
- Max Chilton, Marussia-Cosworth, 1m27.303s.
- Jules Bianchi, Marussia-Cosworth, No time set.
- Felipa Massa, Ferrari, No time set.
Qualifying 2: Another rain affected session, again drivers are taking the opportunity to set a banker lap. This may be another session where times just tumble as the tyres remove water from the circuit faster than it falls. Webber, Button, Perez, Rosberg and Hulkenberg have all been at the top of the times so far, 5 minutes in. Perez, Grosjean, Button and Rosberg would all top Hulkenberg’s time though. With 5 minutes left, Giedo van der Garde takes a gamble and puts slick tyres on before anyone else. Most of the other drivers are changing to slicks now after van de Garde sets the 6th fastest time. Webber pushes the fastest time through the 1m20s barrier with a time of 1m19.254s, almost three seconds better than the best intermediate time – he will push it further with a 1m17.322s. A few drivers may miss out here if they aren’t careful… Vettel tops the list with 1m15.988s, which pushed Alonso out of the top 10. However he would improve his lap to go 5th. Grosjean is the biggest name to be eliminated.
- Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber-Ferrari, 1m18.331s
- Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1m18.344s
- Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Renault, 1m18.603s
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Reanult, 1m19.077s
- Giedo van der Garde, Caterham-Renault, 1m19.408s
- Pastor Maldonado, Williams-Reanult, 1m21.688s.
Qualifying 3: This will be Jean-Eric Vergne‘s first time in the third session, alongside Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil. Raikkonen will set the first time but his lap is fairly slow (1m20.269s) and is immediately beaten by Hamilton (1m15.790s) then Webber (1m15.134s). Hamilton goes top with a 1m14.968, which is beaten by Rosberg (1m14.919s) then Webber (1m14.726s) and Vettel (1m14.333s). In the closing seconds, Webber sets the fastest time of 1m14.181s, which is swiftly beaten by Hamilton (1m13.967s) then Rosberg, who posts a 1m13.876s, which is finalised as his third consecutive pole.
The grid:
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m13.876s
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m13.967s, +0.091s
- Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, 1m13.980s, +0.104s
- Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault, 1m14.181s, +0.305s
- Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus-Renault, 1m14.822s, +0.946s
- Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1m14.824s, +0.948s
- Sergio Perez, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m15.138s, +1.262s
- Adrian Sutil, Forcie India-Mercedes, 1m15.383s, +1.507s
- Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m15.647s, +1.771s
- Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 15.703s, +1.827s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m17.748s
(Gaps are to quickest time in Q2)
- Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber-Ferrari, 1m18.331s, + 2.343s
- Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1m18.344s, + 2.356s
- Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Renault, 1m18.603s, + 2.615s
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Renault, 1m19.077s, + 3.089s
- Giedo van der Garde, Caterham-Renault, 1m19.408s, + 3.420s
- Pastor Maldonado, Williams-Renault, 1m21.688s, + 5.700s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m26.095s
(Gaps are to quickest time in Q1)
- Paul di Resta, Force India-Mercedes, 1m26.322s, + 2.870s
- Charles Pic, Caterham-Renault, 1m26.633s, + 3.181s
- Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber-Ferrari, 1m26.917s, + 3.465s
- Max Chilton, Marussia-Cosworth, 1m27.303s, + 3.851s
- Jules Bianchi, Marussia-Cosworth, No time set
- Felipe Massa, Ferrari, No time set
107% time: 1m29.293s
