Formula 1 2013 Monaco Grand Prix – Rosberg Reigns In Principality
Qualifying Nico Rosberg converted his promising practice pace into another pole position in a rainy Monaco, Mercedes fourth in a row from six races as Lewis Hamilton made it their second front-row lockout by taking second less than a tenth of a second behind. The changing conditions made for an thrilling qualifying session, as it was a battle of last man over the line as the drying track got faster with every lap, switching from intermediate tyres to super-soft slicks in the dying minutes of Q2 before a slick-tyre shootout as blue skies unfolded. Red Bull secured the second row, with Vettel taking third and twice-winner Webber fourth, just missing out on the front row, however they were upbeat about things and surprisingly quiet on tyres, evidently feeling it may help them jump Mercedes in the race. Raikkonen delivered fifth for Lotus, feeling it was the best the car could do but was unsure of the race ahead. Grosjean barely made it into qualifying following his FP3 accident, and then caught traffic that saw him eliminated in Q2, ending up 13th for his efforts. Alonso was philosophical in sixth place, and suggested a race win might be beyond his reach, though I doubt many would believe hed aim for anything less. Following his heavy crash in FP3, Ferrari were unable to repair Massas car, and with no time set he will start from last place, likely the pit lane, though this negated the five-place penalty he received for a gearbox change during the rebuild. McLaren showed much better pace, and in the changing conditions the team managed things perfectly to deliver them space on track and be last over the line on an evolving track. Perez was disappointed to only take seventh on what he felt was a mega lap, extracting the full potential of the car. Jenson only got ninth, as he suffered a fuel pump problem on his first run, then lost top gear for his second, when he felt that fifth place was within their reach. Force Indias weekend suffered something of a reversal, as after two practice crashes and a spin in Q1 at Mirabeau, Sutil broke into Q3 and took eighth place, whereas Paul di Resta showed fantastic pace in Q1, only to find himself eliminated to a shocking 17th as the team completely misread the conditions and left things too late on a single set of intermediate tyres. Torro Rosso delivered much improved pace from practice to take tenth with Vergne, his best qualifying ever, and 12th with Ricciardo, though he felt he could have done more on super-soft tyres. Hulkenberg was disappointed not to make Q3 and felt Sauber switched to the slick tyres too late, securing a strategically useful 11th position. Teammate Gutierrez failed to deliver in 19th despite some reasonable practice pace and felt he didnt get the best of the intermediate tyres in Q1. Williams looked in great form as Maldonado went fastest in Q1 with Bottas ninth, but things quickly returned to their depressing normality as they ended up 16th and 14th respectively. At the back, Giedo van der Garde took a fantastic 15th, Caterhams highest qualifying in over two years and showed some great pace in a well-timed move to slick tyres. Pic finished 18th, helping the team beat Marussia soundly, with rookie Chilton struggling to maximise the intermediate tyres in Q1, and Bianchis car stopping going up the hill from Ste Devote with a fire.