Max are RB13 this year from the wall?
It is time once again for the jewel in the crown. This weekend is the Monaco Grand Prix on the calendar. It had always been like a helicopter through your living room to fly, but this year the cars are even faster than ever before. With the crash barriers, just millimeters away from the ideal line that should almost be a guarantee for the necessary spectacle. To date, rookies Ocon and Stroll both already in the wall popped. How should that continue in the qualification?
Q1:
While the mechanics of Ocon still working hard to make the VJM10 of the Frenchman, almost all drivers directly on the track. No wachtspelletjes here in Monaco, because before you know it parking someone’s car on the track and there is no more space. Especially the Ferrari drivers to let no grass grow and reels immediately the pit lane.
As expected, the red cars are fast and they put an almost identical time down to the top of the field. A moment later, the Mercs and Red Bull’s in action. Surprise 1: Bottas also seems to be in the first real qualifying session more speed than Hamilton. Surprise 2: VER is slightly faster than the Fezza’s and takes P1.
Great work done by the Force India mechanics: exactly on time, they send Ocon back on to the track. Now it is up to the Frenchman to revancheren for his faux-pas in VT3 and a good time to put down. Esteban is, however, a half-second slower than team-mate Perez. Whether this is due to the special qualities of Perez on this job or to a not quite good car, we don’t know for sure.
Grosjean spins at Le Tip Top, and is parked with its nose in the wrong direction. The Frenchman continues to have problems for his Haas F1 this year in the good track. Yet he leaves after the incident with the necessary wagenbeheersing. On the tight streets, he throws the car skillfully, and then he can move on. Well in the small space, they would say on the football field.
At the end of the session, we see Ericsson starvation. A downer for the Swede, although he would probably also not much further, and had come in the Sauber. Ocon is still on the fifteenth place that is good for Q2, but Grosjean is fast on the road and kegelt Esteban, ultimately, the knock-out zone. He is there accompanied by some of the usual suspects. Jolyon Palmer, Lance Stroll, Wehrlein and Ericsson will start the race tomorrow on the back of the grid.
Q2:
Just like in Q1 convert were times and Vettel quickly a good time. Hamilton is experiencing a schrikmomentje as he is almost the guardrail invliegt in Massenet. The Brit complains about the little grip and comes no further than the fourteenth place before he got to the pit again to look up to. We see here the first signs that the problem of Sochi LH44 again tricky falls?
The two McLaren’s are going relatively well and hang around in the lower regions of the top-10. Grosjean is yet again in the round at Sainte Devote, while Verstappen Ferrari the heat on the shins. He comes up to eight thousandth of the time of Kimi.
But then Kimi woke up. He drives the fastest lap of the weekend and so the fastest lap ever at the circuit with a 1:12:231. Suddenly I remembered that Sebastian never really was good at this circuit. Potverdikke Kimi, why were you so slow in the free training?
Sensation in the making: Lewis is on his second set of tires is not fast. The remaining time on the clock is slowly ticking away. One more round, Lewis the chance to Q3 to pick up. In the first section, he is sitting just under the time that is good for P10, in the second section, he seems all too slowly.
Then we suddenly see a yellow flag waving. Stoffel Vandoorne has himself no disservice and is in the guardrail flown. To the extent that the chances of the Belgians to his first kwalificatieduel of the year to win. Also the chance of Hamilton to make things even good to make in the last section is now gone. Hamilton will start only if the fourteenth(!).
In addition to Hamilton fall Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Massa in Q2. Spin-king Grosjean saves the jump to Q3.
Q3:
What can Vettel now titelrivaal the ball has dropped? The duel to the pole seems to go on between him and team-mate Kimi. Secretly, the team will perhaps prefer to Seb on P1 to see, but Kimi will do well in his mirrors to look in the box or not someone is a quick visit to an anti-roll bar loose or something like that.
Kimi put the first marker with a 1:12.296. He is slightly slower than in Q2. Vettel follows a different strategy and does first a smooth warm-up lap before his real fast lap in. But if Vettel across the finish line, it does not seem the right strategy, since he is a lot slower than Kimi.
Max is initially to P2, but then there’s that dekselse Ozzie. Ricciardo is in his first run a tenth of a second faster than FAR. Bottas nestles between both Red Bull racing drivers. Max complains on the radio that he doesn’t have enough grip.
But there is still hope. Bottas is the first of the top for a second run and he gets almost a half a second of his best time. Voltage while the clock to 0:00. Were times set the fastest time, even more acutely, but Vettel and Bottas are also quickly on the go. They rescue, however, both do not! Kimi takes his first pole position since France in 2008, and responds ecstatically on the radio:
“Ah good, thank you guys.”
Also Max has what to celebrate, because he takes the fourth place from Ricciardo. The difference with Kimi is a thick, three-tenths. Behind the six five toppers picks Sainz best of the rest with the sixth place, Grosjean, Perez, Button and Vandoorne.
UPDATE: Max is in his element with his fourth place. In the qualifications he is now 3-3 against Ricciardo.
The full results:
1. Were times
2. Vettel
3. Bottas
4. Verstappen
5. Ricciardo
6. Sainz
7. Grosjean
8. Perez
9. Button
10. Vandoorne
11. Kvyat
12. Hulkenberg
13. Magnussen
14. Hamilton
15. Mass
16. Ocon
17. Palmer
18. Stroll
19. Wehrlein
20. Ericsson