The
inevitable has happened. With such a dominant car and it being absurdly clear
that either Lewis or Nico will win the title, the personal relationship between
the two drivers has spectacularly disintegrated. Two weeks ago in Spain, Hamilton
admitted to using a higher power setting in the closing stages to fend off
Rosberg and apologized – although the reverse situation allegedly occurred in
Bahrain (but failed to work) – before Saturday’s controversial Q3 session
further escalated tensions. F1 Power
Rankings will give Nico the benefit of the doubt after the Mirabeau
incident; after all, the FIA did clear him of any wrongdoing.
Anyway,
on the same weekend that Ryan Hunter-Reay edged out Helio Castroneves to take
his first Indianapolis 500 victory (the first in eight years for an American –
denying Castroneves a record-tying fourth Indy 500 win), there were twenty
other drivers in Monaco this weekend, all with a story or three to tell; from drivers
lining up in the wrong grid positions to Marussia’s historic result and even a
discussion about female F1 drivers, so let’s get cracking!
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| The jewel in F1's triple crown race was the local boy Source: Marussia F1 Team (Facebook) |
1. Lewis Hamilton (no change)
One
thing is certain: while Hamilton feels he was heading for pole position, there
was no guarantee; just like he made a mistake in Bahrain quali, the same thing
could have happened again in Monaco later during his lap. The antipathy between
the two former friends is clear for all to see and Hamilton’s remark that he
will take a leaf out of Senna’s book will not have gone unnoticed by Merc and
in-house relationship expert Niki Lauda. It is worth remembering, however, that
since Senna’s actions; a certain M. Schumacher (who was, of course, involved in
his own suspicious Monaco antics) was excluded from the 1997 championship for
attempting to sabotage Jacques Villeneuve’s race and title hopes in Jerez. One
final thought: the debris caught in Lewis’ eye was a stark reminder of the
dangers of (open wheel) motor racing.
2. Daniel Ricciardo (no change)
Another
excellent weekend for Danny Ric; the young Aussie again had the lucky RBR in
both quali and the race and secured best-of-the-rest honours for the second consecutive
race.
3. Nico Rosberg (no change)
From
a neutral perspective, Rosberg’s victory was just what the championship needed.
Having been decimated by Hamilton so far this season, he re-took the title lead
having led all 78 laps around Monte Carlo for the second straight season.
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| Despite the friction, there was still a team celebratory photo - and Lewis was in it Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook) |
4. Daniil Kvyat (no change)
It
was an agonizing case of ‘what might have
been’ for the Russian rookie on his first visit to Monaco. A fantastic
performance in quali saw him reach Q3 before his STR exhaust failed in the
opening laps.
5. Romain Grosjean (up one spot)
Monaco
has never been the kindest track to Grosjean and it seemed as if that trend
would continue this year as an average qualifying was further worsened by a
first lap puncture as Adrian Sutil drove into Romain. However, he recovered
superbly to score points for the second consecutive race and his stock
continues to rise as he performs strongly in the face of adversity.
6. Nico Hülkenberg (up one spot)
The
Hulk maintained his 100% point-scoring start to the season with a solid drive
on Sunday. Having been outqualified by Sergio Pérez, the German edged clear of
his team-mate by Mirabeau on the opening lap (avoiding the carnage) and sealed
an eventual 5th-place finish with a fantastic opportunistic move at
Portier on Kevin Magnussen, who had eased off to allow Jean-Éric Vergne through;
and held on in the closing stages despite having heavily worn supersoft tyres.
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| The Hulk had another strong weekend Source: Sahara Force India (Facebook) |
7. Valtteri Bottas (down two spots)
A
quiet weekend for Bottas; the Finn missed out on Q3 but slowly worked his way
up into the top eight (where he had finished in every race this season) as
others encountered misfortune. Unfortunately, his own power unit let him down
and his point-scoring streak came to an end.
8. Jules Bianchi (up eight spots)
Yes!
Finally one of the ‘2010 teams’ has scored points! It was simply a magnificent
race for Marussia as Bianchi – born just a stone’s throw away in Nice – put in
a stunning drive from the back of the grid (due to a gearbox penalty) to score
his maiden points in F1 at the same track where his great-uncle scored a podium
in 1968. It hasn’t been an easy start to Bianchi’s sophomore season but it was
near-perfect performance on Sunday (the strange ‘lining up in the wrong grid
spot’ penalty the only mistake), highlighted by a superb opportunistic
overtaking manoeuvre on arch-rival Kobayashi into Rascasse.
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| The historic moment Bianchi crossed the line Source: Marussia F1 Team (Facebook) |
Six
world championships between them but they find themselves locked near the foot
of the top ten in this week’s F1 Power
Rankings. Alonso overcame early ERS worries and had a very lonely race to
came home a solid, if unspectacular, P4; while Vettel was not so lucky with his
reliability woes and had another well-documented early DNF.
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| Vettel & Raikkonen both jumped their team-mates at the start before it all went pear-shaped Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook) |
11. Sergio Pérez (down one spot)
Not
much to say for Checo; he did well to outqualify his team-mate but found
himself behind The Hulk by Mirabeau as he was then spun around by his former
team-mate JB. Looked like a typical Monaco opening lap racing incident.
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| Checo's race lasted about thirty seconds Source: Reuters |
=12. Kimi Räikkönen (up two spots) & Felipe Massa (up one spot)
A
terrific race turned into a terrifically unlucky race for Räikkönen; having
made a fantastic start, he was en route to the podium until Max Chilton drove
into him under the safety car. His race unravelled thereafter with a series of
scruffy errors – culminating in a desperate lunge on Magnussen at the hairpin –
which saw him finish outside of the points (albeit with the fastest lap).
Massa’s weekend trajectory went in the opposite direction; he was the victim of a clumsy Marcus Ericsson error in quali and then opted for an alternate pit strategy during the race which eventually earned him a solid seventh-place finish as he avoided the mayhem around him.
Massa’s weekend trajectory went in the opposite direction; he was the victim of a clumsy Marcus Ericsson error in quali and then opted for an alternate pit strategy during the race which eventually earned him a solid seventh-place finish as he avoided the mayhem around him.
=14. Jenson Button (down three spots) & Kevin Magnussen
(down two spots)
Granted,
this is perhaps a tad harsh on McLaren – especially as they earned a double
points-finish (their first points in four races). Button is pegged by Magnussen
as his rookie team-mate managed to both outqualify and then out-race him until
the latter’s power unit woes. Credit Magnussen also for two fine pieces of
driving: firstly to avoid Vergne in the pit-lane and then to spot the charging Hülkenberg
at Portier. His overtake on Vergne was also noteworthy but a tad
over-enthusiastic (the team should have told him a JEV penalty was inevitable,
the move was too early, and the end result was Hülkenberg nabbed the spot).
JB
had a solid race. He was lucky to avoid major damage after the clash with Pérez
but kept his nose clean thereafter and brought his car home safely for a fine
P6. The drop in this week’s F1 Power
Rankings is more down to others’ doing so well (i.e. Bianchi, Räikkönen,
Massa).
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| JB ended up as the lead McLaren after K-Mag's late woes |
16. Jean-Éric Vergne (down one spot)
JEV’s
run of shocking luck continued in his de-facto home race as a fantastic weekend
ultimately ended early with exhaust failure, just like his team-mate. A superb
effort in quali saw him start seventh and he ran comfortably in the points
until picking up a deserved drive-through penalty for an unsafe release (through
no fault of his own). The high rate of attrition meant Vergne would still have
scored points in Monaco for the second year running had his own Toro Rosso not
expired. Vergne has always performed strongly at Monaco (he was unlucky to miss
out on points in 2011 due to an outrageous late tyre gamble) – where the driver
can make a real difference – and he must take heart from the fact that his
former team-mate Ricciardo is having such a strong season with the senior team;
the two were well matched during their time together. Next up is Canada, where
JEV scored a career-best sixth-place finish last season. Fingers crossed!
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| Surely JEV is due an upturn in luck soon? Source: Scuderia Toro Rosso (Facebook) |
=17. Marcus Ericsson (up two spots) & Kamui Kobayashi (down one spot)
Plenty
of ties in this week’s F1 Power Rankings
and the two Caterham drivers find themselves locked at no. 17 – which is a
season-high for Ericsson but a season-low for KK. The Swede suffered an embarrassing
error in quali but kept a cool head in a hectic race to score what would have
been a magnificent eleventh-place finish if not for Bianchi’s heroics.
Kobayashi, meanwhile, was mugged by Bianchi and struggled thereafter; he was
brought in for races like this to make the most of such opportunities and
failed to deliver.
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| Ericsson - complete with Ronnie Peterson tribute helmet - had a mixed weekend Source: FOM TV images |
19. Max Chilton (down one spot)
Frankly,
if not for the dismal Saubers and Maldonado, Chilton could easily have been
ranked bottom this week after his horrific error under the safety car as he ran
into Räikkönen (for which he was inexplicably not penalized). Not only did it
destroy Kimi’s race but Max then missed out on the opportunity to get back on
the lead lap and fight for points – something which would have been
significantly better on his racing CV than his finishing record.
20. Esteban Gutiérrez & 21.
Adrian Sutil (no change)
It
happens every year: several drivers leave the Principality reflecting on missed
opportunities. This year, it’s our young Mexican friend, Stevie G, who tops
that list after his desperate error at Rascasse saw him throw away some
extremely valuable points for Sauber. Gutiérrez also made the rather strange
mistake of lining up in the wrong grid position as he took Maldonado’s vacated
spot – which triggered the same blunder from both Marussias.
It
was another weekend to forget for Sutil – even if we forgive him for the first
lap contact with Grosjean as it was during the Mirabeau mêlée. He produced some
good overtakes – including a clean move on Grosjean – before he lost control of
his Sauber exiting the tunnel; his second crash of the weekend. Both cars went out in Q3 and now they slip
behind Marussia in the championship; miserable times at the Swiss team.
On
a side note, the team should genuinely consider running Simona de Silvestro in
some FP1 sessions – with a possible view to replacing Sutil (although Giedo van der Garde would probably be a safer bet). She seems far
better prepared for F1 than Susie Wolff, whose appearances for Williams seem
nothing more than a hyped-up vanity exercise (and, indeed, than Sergey
Sirotkin).
22. Pastor Maldonado (no change)
Having
traditionally performed well in Monaco, Maldonado managed to crack Q2 for the
first time this season… and that was it for him as his car packed up prior to
the start of Sunday’s race.
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| Miss yellow cars in F1? RHR hold off Castroneves in a thrilling Indy 500 finish Source: AP |
All views expressed in this blog are my own and no copyright
infringement is intended.
