11 posts tagged “monaco gp”

Nico Rosberg’s crash on the 60^th lap on the Swimming Pool chicane was something really serious. The Williams’ car was terribly damaged especially the right side. The front wheel was missing and when the car was brought to the pits, it was still smoking. Accidents can really happen during a race especially if rain is pouring on the circuit. The chances of having accidents are actually higher because of the soaking wet track. Not only do Formula 1 drivers have to go through the challenging circuit of Monte Carlo, they also have to double their caution because of the rain.

Despite the rain and the accident, Rosberg is fine and is feeling good about his FW30. He even said that his car was doing well during practice sessions and the qualifying race. That’s actually good news for the Williams’ team, which is currently tied with the Red Bull-Renault team. Rosberg, on the other hand, is on the 10^th place in the driver’s standings. If Rosberg prevents himself from getting into an accident, he’ll definitely be able to bring his team the lead it needs. As for the dominating teams, they’d probably be staying on top and the Williams’ team will definitely be the wall that separates the best from the so-so.

The Monaco GP looked almost out of hand for Lewis Hamilton and that was because both Ferrari drivers have dominated the qualifying race. The 22-year-old Brit was just third from Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. The only thing the Hamilton was hopeful about was the weather. Weather forecasts predicted that it could rain in Monte Carlo on race day. And indeed, before the race began rain poured in Circuit de Monaco. The Brit wasn’t very hopeful during the first six laps after he crashed hard on a wall en route for the Swimming Pool. At that time, the ace driver of the McLaren team was behind Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. He has no choice but to take set off to the pit stop and the thought of the Brazilian dominating the race came into his mind.

After the trouble, Hamilton’s MP4-23 was refueled and so he went back to the race. On the eighth lap, when David Coulthard’s Red Bull and Sebastien Bourdais’ Toro Rosso blew up, Hamilton saw the sun shining brightly upon him. The accident only means that the safety will be released and so cars will be plunked close to each other. The race began during the 11^th lap. But soon after the race continued, Raikkonen has to withdraw to second place to pay for his drive-through penalty because of his tyres were fixed very late. This placed Robert Kubica behind Massa. During the 16^th lap, Kubica took the lead after overtaking while on Ste Devote.

Kubica had the lead but gave it up on the 26^th lap to refuel. Putting Massa back to where he was before. But then again, Massa has to make a pit stop which he made during the 33^rd lap. At that time, Hamilton was behind him. The Brit eventually took the lead and no other car has crept up from behind to steal it away from him, not even Raikkonen.

Hamilton refueled on the 54^th lap and changed to Bridgestone soft tyres. And when he went back to the race, he was still in the lead. Yes, he was in the lead but he wasn’t totally out of harm’s way. On the 61^st lap just 40 secs ahead of him, Williams’ driver Nico Rosberg crashed on the walls just before the Swimming Pool. This only means that the safety car will be out soon and the chances of Hamilton to take off for a safer lead were gone.

The race resumed on the 68^th lap and Hamilton grabbed the chance of pulling his car away from the pack, which he successfully did. Following him was Kubica, who by the way had no trouble in pulling away from Massa. Massa stayed third for the rest of the race.

Force India’s Adrian Sutil was having the time of his life as the fourth in the race. But, I guess, Monte Carlo wasn’t the perfect place to celebrate a victory as his car was smacked from behind by Raikkonen. This ended the almost victorious race for the German. Victory was almost in his hands but before he even got it, it was gone. The Monaco GP this season proved to be another nail-biting race. Rain, accidents, overtaking, and everything that could happen in a race happened in Monte Carlo. And one of my most anticipated win also happened and that is Hamilton standing at the top of the podium.

The win in Monte Carlo gave Hamilton the lead against the two Ferrari drivers, Raikkonen and Massa, and BMW’s Kubica. After Circuit de Monaco, Formula 1 will now be heading to Canada where Hamilton once dominated. I’m expecting a really good race from Raikkonen this time. I think his confidence will be back after a disappointing race in Monte Carlo. For Hamilton, the road to victory was difficult at first but as soon as pulled away right after the second safety car incident, he was in control of the race.

If Lewis Hamilton ended up victorious during the Monaco GP, what happened to his teammate? I’m pretty sure Heikki Kovalainen did his best to get to the podium. But just like Kimi Raikkonen, Kovalainen’s best wasn’t enough to achieve a successful finish in Monte Carlo. The other McLaren finished the Monaco GP in 8^th place. And before him was the newbie Kazuki Nakajima of the Williams-Toyota team, which is currently at the fourth spot and tied with the Red Bull-Renault team at the constructor’s standings.

The next grand prix will be on Montreal, Canada, at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The winner last season was Hamilton. Well, it looks like the McLaren team has had a good history in Montreal. The Canadian GP will definitely paint a smile on Hamilton, given that he’s won last season. If his McLaren remains in shape for the next race, the ace driver will definitely have a shot for another win. Hey, I’m not counting out Kimi yet.

Six grand prix have passed and I’ve never witnessed Formula 1 as exciting as this season. Teams and drivers are a few points ahead and behind of each other. The Monaco GP, the previous grand prix, wasn’t the favorite for the Ferrari ace driver Kimi Raikkonen. And even though he’s had the second best lap during the qualifying race that didn’t assured him a win from one of the most challenging circuits in Formula 1. Raikkonen ended up in the 10^th spot while his teammate Felipe Massa raced consistently to achieve the third spot. Massa’s success helped the Ferrari team to cement a lead from one of their toughest rivals, the McLaren. Lewis Hamilton still remains a big threat to the red team in achieving another world championship. But hey, the midseason of F1 has just started. A lot of things can happen during the course of the season. And who knows by the end of the season, Ferrari will still be at the top and McLaren will still be looking up at them together with the rest of the F1 teams.

At last, Lewis Hamilton got his deepest wish and that is to win a grand prix. Win not as the second or the third, but the first to finish the race. The victory in Monaco gave Hamilton the lead against Ferrari’s ace Kimi Raikkonen, who finished the race in 10^th place. The first win for Hamilton also gave McLaren a 1-point against the BMW team but is still 16 points behind the Ferrari team. He was followed by BMW’s Robert Kubica, who presently less than four points behind Hamilton, Raikkonen, and Felipe Massa. Just imagine how tough Formula 1 is this season. I honestly expected Raikkonen to give his all Circuit de Monaco but I guess it wasn’t enough to get him a win but never fear Ferrari aficionados; the team still has another driver named Massa to pull some win. And Massa did, getting the third spot with a 4-second difference from Hamilton.

After the Monaco GP, the constructor’s standings have changed. Ferrari is still on top with secured 16-point lead from McLaren, which is now on the second spot. The black and grey team is followed by BMW. Now, this is where the competition gets tougher. The top three teams are now on their respective places but none have any plans to give up.  Just take a look at the driver’s standings. The top four drivers are just a few points behind each other. This is definitely going to be a really exciting season for all F1 teams and for everybody who loves F1. It’s definitely not going to be easy for Ferrari, if Hamilton and Kubica to continuously perform well consistently.

The Ferrari team has been very confident during the previous races. But with the arrival in Monaco that confidence wavered because the team hasn’t won in that circuit for more than three straight seasons. If the confidence of Ferrari was shaken, Lewis Hamilton’s never. In fact, he’s showing more confidence and determination than he ever did during the previous races. And that confidence was evident with Hamilton earning the fastest lap during Friday’s practice sessions. For me, Lew is becoming the Kobe Bryant of Formula 1.

Hamilton is probably feeling good right now. But it was just the practice sessions. Those sessions weren’t the qualifying race. Anything can happen and we’ll see if Hamilton’s confidence can put him in pole position. And I don’t see the rain stopping Lew from getting what he wants and that is to get a win that could put his name and his team on top of the standings. Now, I’ve decided on whom I’ll put as my podium finishers. First would be Hamilton, next would be Robert Kubica, and the last would be Kimi Raikkonen.

For a circuit where you’ll find tight corners and where traction control system is forbidden, rain would be the last thing you would want to happen. And rain could possibly happy on the race day. The Monaco GP is definitely going to be a make or break race. I haven’t really thought much about raining, since most people are talking about the 600^th GP of Sir Frank Williams or Lewis Hamilton having a great finish during Friday’s practice sessions.

When it rains, the road becomes slippery and this means that the drivers have step on the brakes harder particularly on corners. Any error could lead to a disastrous situation and that’s definitely the last thing any team, who’s going for a championship would want to happen. I really hope it doesn’t rain because the circuit itself makes it very challenging. So, what more if it starts to rain? It’s going to be a lot more troublesome for the drivers; their safety is in their hands.

Practice sessions are just practice sessions. But when it comes to Formula 1, Friday practice (FP) sessions are the time when teams really get to test their cars for the upcoming race. These allow them to distinguish problems before the qualifying race starts. These sessions also gives the opposing teams to a get picture of how the qualifying race would be. And this time, I know other teams are looking out for the McLaren team especially Lewis Hamilton. Well, it looks like Hamilton is going to get a win this time on a circuit, which has featured a lot of challenges for their toughest rival – Ferrari. Tomorrow’s qualifying result will determine which driver has the advantage.

If the F1 community in Monte Carlo are busy with the preparations for tomorrow’s qualifying race, F1 analyst are busy typing their analysis for the upcoming Monaco GP. Analysts are of course impressed with how the McLaren and Hamilton prepared and it was a bit of shocker for Nico Rosberg to trample on a pair of Ferraris and make it in second during the FP2. These are how the teams have performed during Friday’s practice sessions.

• The McLaren team, composed of Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen, was absolutely happy with the results during FP1 and FP2. Hamilton got second on the FP1 and first on the FP2. Kovalainen, on the other hand, was third during FP1 and fifth on the last practice. The team is definitely looking good but let’s find out tomorrow if they’d still be able to maintain their lead by getting pole position.
• Set aside Ferrari first because the Williams team deserves to be in second, thanks to the brilliant performance of Rosberg who had a huge FP2 results. Maybe he was just happy to race on his favorite circuit – the Circuit de Monaco. Along with Rosberg is Kazuki Nakajima, who has successfully bounced back to be in ninth.
• Yes, it is time for Ferrari. I think Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are going to have a good race in Monaco. Are they using their new nose? If they are, the team has a good chance of winning the race. I’m really feeling the competition boiling up between this team and McLaren.
• Apart from McLaren and Ferrari, there’s also the BMW team to be worried about. Robert Kubica along with his teammate Nick Heidfeld could win a race, if not for their tough rivals which races in black and red cars. Despite the not-so-good performance on Friday’s practice sessions, the two drivers are still determined to take over Monaco.
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  Ferrari
  Now for the Renault team. We must never forget that Fernando Alonso was the one who one last season. This means that he knows the circuit that well. But let’s see if he can keep up with Hamilton, who is very much determined to get his first win of the season.
• For the Honda team. Well, I’m still really wondering what’s in store for this team. I know both Jenson Button and Rubens Barichello are happy with the results of the practice sessions.
• Team Toyota, on the other hand, isn’t that much delighted with the Friday’s results. I am of course counting out Timo Glock who is going to drive his F1 car in Monaco for the very first time.
• The Red Bull was having trouble because as Mark Webber sees it, the cars don’t suit the challenging track of Circuit de Monaco. David Coulthard had a bad day with a throttle actuator problem in the first practice. But in the afternoon, he came back and performed well enough to make the fourteenth.
• Force India had a great run in the morning. But when afternoon came, the team experienced mechanical problems.
• If Red Bull and Force India had a not-so-lucky Friday practice sessions, how much unluckier could Toro Rosso could get? The team had just started setting up their cars.

Now you get a picture of how the qualifying race is going to be tomorrow. =)

We all get stressed out, whether we’re at home or at work. Sometimes you just feel the need to get out of the usual routine you have and just be careless and free. But that will be impossible especially if you are constantly traveling just like a Formula 1 driver. A F1 driver doesn’t actually have enough time to enjoy life. Well, maybe after the race but if the race is just a week to go; drivers are continuously shaping and gearing up for the next race. For the last season’s Monaco GP champion, Fernando Alonso, the best way to spend a time off is to simply spend time pondering on the things that have improved during the course of the season. Despite the Renault team falling way behind Ferrari and other teams, Alonso is very happy with the way things are going. He even said that his team have progressed, which really showed during the previous races – the Spanish and the Turkish GP. Alonso said that he’s not been himself during the previous races and has learned valuable lessons from those. So, I guess he will be applying all those things on the next races.

Alonso is a great driver but he gets easily caught up with his emotions and loses focus. If he changes the way he drives, he could retain his championship title in the Monaco GP.

I got this picture from Wikipedia. It shows a small section of the Circuit de Monaco, which is composed of the streets of La Condamine and Monte Carlo. The circuit features a complex series of tight bends, which I find very remarkable. It is actually the only circuit that features a tunnel. The Monaco GP is not just about its remarkable circuit design but also because of the challenge the circuit possess. As I have said on my previous entry, the Circuit de Monaco doesn’t have the usual straights you will find on other circuits. This only means that the circuit has high downforce. This challenging feature makes the Monaco GP a one-of-a-kind circuit. What makes Monaco even more special is the nearness of the crowd to the circuit, which means the crowd and the cameras, has a nicer view of the race.