Formula One 2011

[Fry_4000]

Nasty crash. hope he's ok

[Katsuya]

That didn't look *that* bad, that's the odd thing. Perhaps because Rosberg's crash was arguably "worse", it just didn't lead him in to that barrier in the middle.

[Gazz]

That didn't look *that* bad, that's the odd thing. Perhaps because Rosberg's crash was arguably "worse", it just didn't lead him in to that barrier in the middle.

I think the main danger of a crash like that is the those softer barriers coming over the side of the cockpit and hitting the side of the driver's head. Apparently, Perez sustained a concussion and is being kept in hospital overnight for observation, which would rule him out of starting tomorrow for sure.

[LUKIE]

Glad he is okay though! It was a nasty crash, but as superstar Coulthard said, those barriers are designed to basically take a car on full speed and minimize injury.

[Lineker]

Fernando Alonso set the pace in the final free practice session ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday morning.

The Ferrari driver's 1m14.433s lap was more than half a second quicker than he managed on his way to the best time on Thursday and put him ahead of Jenson Button's McLaren by 0.563s.

Felipe Massa made it two Ferraris in the top three, despite the Brazilian going straight down the escape road at Ste Devote with 10 minutes remaining, his best time almost identical to Button's.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel was fourth quickest, but, like his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, used his DRS only sparingly on his best lap and barely turned a lap on super soft tyres, unlike those ahead of him.

Michael Schumacher sat at the top of the timesheets for the first half of the session, but faded to fifth by the end. The Mercedes driver still managed to outpace Lewis Hamilton's McLaren and Webber, though.

Jaime Alguersuari's session ended early after his Toro Rosso sustained a right rear puncture with 20 minutes remaining, but his best time was still good enough for eighth, ahead of his team-mate Sebastien Buemi and Sergio Perez's Sauber.

Nico Rosberg was the only driver not to set a time. The German lost control of his Mercedes under braking for the chicane after just eight minutes, his car hitting the barrier hard and bringing out the red flags.

The session was red-flagged again with just five minutes to go when Vitantonio Liuzzi crashed at the exit of Ste Devote after losing control mid-corner and sliding on to the dirty part of the track.

FP3


Pos  Driver              Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps

 1.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m14.433s            18

 2.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m14.996s  + 0.563s  17

 3.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m15.024s  + 0.591s  19

 4.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m15.245s  + 0.812s  19

 5.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m15.310s  + 0.877s  21

 6.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m15.386s  + 0.953s  14

 7.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m15.529s  + 1.096s  19

 8.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m16.617s  + 2.184s  13

 9.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m16.736s  + 2.303s  15

10.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m16.821s  + 2.388s  19

11.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m16.990s  + 2.557s  20

12.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m17.196s  + 2.763s  13

13.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth     1m17.333s  + 2.900s  17

14.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m17.403s  + 2.970s  18

15.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m17.779s  + 3.346s  17

16.  Nick Heidfeld       Renault               1m17.880s  + 3.447s  17

17.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1m18.069s  + 3.636s  17

18.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault         1m18.115s  + 3.682s  20

19.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m18.580s  + 4.147s  21

20.  Jerome D-Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m18.808s  + 4.375s  21

21.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Renault         1m19.259s  + 4.826s  19

22.  Tonio Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth          1m20.115s  + 5.682s  15

23.  Narain Karthikeyan  HRT-Cosworth          1m20.278s  + 5.845s  16

24.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                                   3


All timing unofficial[/code]




Sebastian Vettel claimed the 20th pole position of his Formula 1 career after going fastest in a Monaco Grand Prix qualifying session that was interrupted by a heavy accident for Sergio Perez.



The Red Bull driver's time of 1m13.556s was set midway through Q3 and was enough to give him the top spot by 0.441 seconds from Jenson Button's McLaren.



A heavy accident for Perez at the chicane with two minutes remaining brought out the red flags for 40 minutes while the Sauber driver was stretchered away and the barriers were reset.



Once the green flags were waved, there was not enough time left for any of the nine remaining drivers to get their tyres warmed up sufficiently to improve on their previous times.



The top six on the grid, therefore, did not change during the final two minutes with Button ahead of Mark Webber's Red Bull and Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.



Michael Schumacher equaled his best grid spot since his return to Formula 1 with Mercedes in fifth, while Felipe Massa put his Ferrari sixth.



Lewis Hamilton had been quickest in both Q1 and Q2, but was the main loser as a result of the red flags as the McLaren driver had been on-track at the time and with four super soft Pirelli tyres on his car.



He could only manage the seventh best time when the session resumed, enough to put him ahead of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes and Pastor Maldonado's Williams. Perez ' should he be fit to start Sunday's race - will do so from a career-best 10th place.



Vitaly Petrov missed out on Q3 for the first time all year, his final flying lap splitting Maldonado from his Williams team-mate Barrichello, while Nick Heidfeld in the second Renault was a disappointing 16th.



The biggest name not to make it into Q2 was Jaime Alguersuari, who was only 20th quickest - slower than Team Lotus drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli. It was Alguersuari's worst qualifying performance since the 2009 Italian GP.



One of the Spaniard's late efforts on super soft rubber was thwarted when he came across Kamui Kobayashi on an out-lap at Rascasse and made a minor collision with the rear end of the Sauber. Both drivers were summoned to the race stewards to explain his actions.



Neither Hispania took to the track. Vitantonio Liuzzi's machine was not repaired in time following his practice accident this morning, while a rear suspension problem was discovered on Narain Karthikeyan's car. Neither, therefore, set a time within the 107 per cent qualifying limit and may not be allowed to start the race.



[code]Qualifying


Pos  Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   

 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m13.556s  

 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m13.997s  + 0.441

 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m14.019s  + 0.463

 4.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m14.483s  + 0.927

 5.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m14.682s  + 1.126

 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m14.877s  + 1.321

 7.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m15.280s  + 1.724

 8.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m15.766s  + 2.210

 9.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m16.528s  + 2.972

10.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       No time

Q3 cut-off time: 1m15.545s                                   Gap **

11.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m15.815s   + 1.540

12.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m15.826s   + 1.551

13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m15.973s   + 1.698

14.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m16.118s   + 1.843

15.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m16.121s   + 1.846

16.  Nick Heidfeld         Renault              1m16.214s   + 1.939

17.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m16.300s   + 2.025

Q3 cut-off time: 1m16.813s                                     Gap *

18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m17.343s   + 2.136

19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m17.381s   + 2.174

20.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m17.820s   + 2.613

21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m17.914s   + 2.707

22.  Jerome D-Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m18.736s   + 3.529

23.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         No time

24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         No time


107% time: 1m20.471s


* Gap to quickest in Q1


** Gap to quickest in Q2

Sergio Perez has suffered no serious injuries in his heavy crash during qualifying at Monaco, his Sauber team has confirmed.

The Swiss squad said the Mexican rookie had concussion and a sprained thigh but no broken bones following a scan, and that doctors could not find further injuries.

The news means Perez is likely to be absent from tomorrow's race, although the team did not mention anything about his participation in the event.

Sauber added that it would investigate the reason for the crash.

"It was with great relief the Sauber F1 Team received the news that Sergio Perez has no serious injuries after his heavy accident in the closing minutes of the final part of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix," said Sauber in a statement.

"Shortly before 15:00 hrs he had crashed into the barrier after the fast tunnel section of the circuit.

"The 21-year-old Mexican was taken to the Hospital Princess Grace in Monaco from where the team received further information at 16:25 hrs: The doctors said Perez had suffered concussion and a sprained thigh, but no broken bones and, following a scan, they could find no further injuries.

"The reason for the accident will be investigated and the team will update the media as soon as it has any further information."

Esteban Gutiérrez is the third driver at Sauber and will likely replace his fellow countryman. He's younger than me! I feel old.

The stewards have also allowed the Hispania's to race.

[Katsuya]

I doubt Gutierrez is going to be able to race tomorrow, I'm sure there's a rule that says you can only drive if you've driven in at least one practice session. I'm also gonna guess that Perez will be back in time for the next race. I'm presuming, therefore, they'll leave his spot on the grid open, which will be handy for Rubens at the start of the race.

[Sam]

Why are Renault so off the pace now, it's strange considering the things they were saying prior to Monaco. I'm gutted for Hamilton who probably would have taken 2nd position on the grid, so it'l be interesting to see what he can rescue from the grand prix. I actually expect Button to be able to start better than Vettel and so take the lead just because the Mclaren KERs seems to be better than Red Bulls

[Gazz]

Why are Renault so off the pace now, it's strange considering the things they were saying prior to Monaco. I'm gutted for Hamilton who probably would have taken 2nd position on the grid, so it'l be interesting to see what he can rescue from the grand prix. I actually expect Button to be able to start better than Vettel and so take the lead just because the Mclaren KERs seems to be better than Red Bulls

I don't think Monaco suits Petrov's somewhat erratic driving style.

They shouldn't allow HRT on the grid, they didn't qualify. It's ridiculous.

[Katsuya]

It looks like the Renault mid-season slump has started a little early, to be honest. They tend to start and finish seasons well; the only reason they did well in Monaco last year is because Kubica is unstoppable in Monaco.

Also, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Lewis has been penalised to 9th for cutting a chicane. Watch as he decides that a Toro Rosso driver holding a poster of Michael Schumacher distracted him on the corner of that chicane and complains about it >_>

[Lineker]

Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes says his outfit will soon add more sponsors and work out how to incorporate Caterham into his Formula 1 plans, now that the Lotus naming row has been resolved.

The High Court delivered its verdict on the Lotus naming issue on Friday - when Mr Justice Peter Smith declared that Team Lotus was allowed to keep its name and use the Lotus chassis moniker in F1.

That decision has been welcomed by Fernandes, who says that the ending of uncertainty about his future plans means he can now start working out how best to integrate his Team Lotus and Caterham interests.

"I'm very happy," Fernandes told AUTOSPORT. "This is the final piece of our strategy jigsaw now. We have the Team Lotus name, we have the F1 team, we have goodwill, we have the roundel and we have the jewel in Caterham.

"This decision gives us the strategy to move forward, which we are very, very happy about. We will use the F1 team to provide the car company with exposure, and we are looking at bringing out a couple more brands.

"It's good to get this decision out of the way. And, as tough as it was, I am very happy with the outcome because we would not have got Caterham if this trouble hadn't started."

Fernandes revealed that his outfit will soon announce some major new sponsors now that the naming issue has been resolved - and that he expected further commercial opportunities to open up for him.

"We already have Dell, and we have signed up another big sponsor which we will announce before the Canadian Grand Prix," he said. "There are other sponsors out there who said they wanted to wait until after the court case, so I am hopeful of more in the future."

Fernandes said that the team would sit down soon to sort out how best to incorporate Caterham branding into F1 - with him hoping to have his Team AirAsia GP2 outfit renamed as Caterham as soon as the Valencia round next month.

"We have to see how we work in Caterham and how we maximise the F1 team," he added. "But we are pretty set now - we are green and yellow.

"I plan to include Caterham into the GP2 name and we will be applying to the race organisers for a name change. Hopefully that can be done by Valencia."

When asked how much the Caterham brand would be used in F1, Fernandes said: "There will be some form of bringing it in, but I don't have the answer yet.

"We were waiting for the judgment and it is good we now have clarity. I would like the decision to be a team effort and I will sit down with the senior team members and shareholders and see how it moves forward. Hopefully by Silverstone we can see what we want to do."

Fernandes also said he was not worried about the prospect of Group Lotus attempting to appeal the court's decision.

"They have to get to approval for the appeal to start with, and that may not necessarily be agreed. The shareholders at Group Lotus may also not want to throw another couple of million pounds at it," he said.

"But it is an odd one when you claim victory and then decide to appeal if you are happy with the outcome. We are happy with the outcome, but I suppose desperate men have to do desperate things."

Cosworth believes that Formula 1's engine manufacturers must work together to find a unified agreement about the 2013 rules amid concerns about the mounting development costs of the new 1.6-litre turbo units.

Although the Northampton-based engine maker is more than happy with the technical aspects of the new rules, it says that there are problems regarding the commercial viability of the investment needed to create the new engines.

The estimated US$25million development cost Cosworth predicts would need to be met by its partner teams - and outfits are likely to be reluctant about a doubling of engine costs for 2013.

Cosworth's general manager Mark Gallagher, who has written to the FIA to express the company's concern about the financial implications, told AUTOSPORT: "We can build the engine, we have been working on the engine and we have absolutely no issue doing the inline four [cylinder layout].

"But our customers don't want to pay for it: there isn't the money, there isn't the sponsorship in F1 - particularly for the smaller teams - and therefore the business case for the new engine is suspect.

"And that's what we have brought to the attention of the FIA. We spent over a year discussing the technical regulations, but in that year there were no conversations with the teams about the commercial implications.

"We have now had those conversations and the teams that we have spoken to have shown that when you reduce your number of engines to the teams you are supplying from 16 to 10 and now to eight, not only do they not expect to pay more, they expect to pay less.

"One team principal said to me, 'Well it's four cylinders instead of eight so that sounds like half price!' That's not the case."

Gallagher thinks that action needs to be taken because with teams reluctant to pay the increased costs, there are also fears that the major car makers - like Mercedes-Benz and Renault - will spend much more in development that originally predicted.

"It's come to our attention that there is an enormous amount of money being spent by the car manufacturers on the development of the engine," Gallagher added. "We believe we can develop a competitive engine, relative to a car company, for somewhere around 30 per cent of their costs. And that's simply because we have been at it for such a long [time], it's what we do and we know how to produce good engines.

"Having said that, precisely what everyone wanted to avoid has now happened. There is a space race going on, with more spending, and everyone going off and doing what a year ago was being thought of as irresponsible. "What we have said is that given our customers don't want to pay for it, and given that our competition is spending money at an enormous rate, we think the brake needs to be put on."

Gallagher does not believe that FIA president Jean Todt's idea of an 'equivalency formula' to retain V8s alongside the new power-units in 2013 is workable - which is why he believes a unified approach from manufacturers to resolve the situation is now being put in place.

"There is a process underway which we are all engaged in with the FIA and with the manufacturers, looking at costs and ideas for a transitional year or two years or whatever," he said.

"There have even been thoughts about alternative solutions in the medium term to try and stabilise the whole thing. I think fundamentally with the 2013 chassis regulations pretty well decided, this issue over engines needs to be resolved quickly.

"We've had meetings last weekend, this week and [have] more next week and I'm confident that inside the next month the whole thing will be resolved one way or another.

"I think there is a real determination to find a solution very quickly, and certainly the FIA's position that the decision has already been made means that there is a real urgency to ratify where we are with all of this and answer the question that we need answering: how can the economics work?"

Formula 1's engine makers will be forced to pursue 'extreme' forms of blown diffuser concepts if the FIA does not clamp down on the use of off-throttle systems next month.

That is the view of Cosworth, which believes that the area of car development could get out of control - as it awaits a meeting of the Technical Working Group to discuss the situation.

The FIA is determined to ban the use of off-throttle blown diffusers, and acted in the wake of a clarification request from Williams about future development options.

Cosworth's general manager Mark Gallagher told AUTOSPORT that his company was ready to push ahead with its own system - but that such costs would have to be met by its partner teams.

"It really does enter the realms of escalated development in an area which nobody foresaw not very long ago, and you can see some quite extreme forms of it on the horizon," said Gallagher.

"This is a benefit which is significant and if you said to your aerodynamicist 'I've got something that is going to give you half a second,' they are going to jump on that.

"This is not a small matter, it's not hundredths of seconds, there is a good chunk of time to be had, and therefore it has the potential to be exploited. Of course, looking forward to potential new engines, if you designed one with this kind of strategy in mind, I think you could? take it on to another level again.

"So the question is whether the FIA determines this is a cul de sac and [says] we are not to go down it any further. Because if the road is left open, not just for the current engines, but for potentially new engines in the future, it's an entire new area of development which you can go on to."

"We'll get the clarification. Certainly we have got it, we can implement it, but we just need the customers to be told that it's legal and [decide that ] they want to proceed with it."

Former Renault Formula 1 boss Flavio Briatore has voiced his suspicions that Red Bull duo Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel may not be getting equal treatment this year.

Briatore, who is Webber's manager, believes that the larger than normal gap between the two drivers at Red Bull during the opening races of this season has raised his concerns.

"I hope Red Bull is a team big enough to guarantee two equal cars for its drivers, but each time something happens, it happens to Mark," Briatore was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I understand you need some luck, but if the same number comes up over and over again, it means there's a magnet under the roulette [wheel]. I'm not casting doubts over [Red Bull team principal Christian] Horner's intellectual honesty, but what's happening sounds strange.

"It would be nice for F1 to have Webber do well too, because he would be Vettel's only true challenger, and he would get the support from 90 per cent of the fans. It would be a nice duel like in [Ayrton] Senna's and [Alain] Prost's time, but back then they had equal cars, while the two Red Bulls instead may be equal only in their colours."

Red Bull Racing has long denied any suggestion of favouritism towards Vettel, and in the last event in Spain it was the German's KERS that failed in qualifying.

Briatore also suggested that Vettel may not be as good as other drivers on the grid - despite his strong start to the campaign.

Speaking about Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, Briatore said: "They're the best drivers. I wonder what they would do at the wheel of the Red Bull. Maybe they'd lap everyone else.

"Vettel is doing a good job, he doesn't make any mistakes and if he carries on this way the championship will be over in two or three races. But then, it's no secret that Red Bull has the best designer around. Adrian Newey is the [Leo] Messi of F1 engineers."

Nico Rosberg believes it may be time to change the barriers at the chicane of the Monaco circuit following Sergio Perez's crash during qualifying.

The Mexican driver was taken to hospital after he crashed heavily against the barriers after losing control of his car ahead of the chicane.

Rosberg had been involved in a very similar accident in the morning's practice, but the Mercedes driver was lucky to just miss the point where Perez crashed later.

He admitted he was very lucky to avoid the barrier, and called for changes to improve the safety.

"I was very fortunate this morning that I completely missed that barrier," said Rosberg. "That barrier has been there for a long time and a lot of things have happened there.

"Maybe it's time to reconsider because it should be pretty easy to get it out of the way and move it back 50 meters or something. I think it may be time to do that."

Rosberg also said that the bump at the end of the tunnel, where the cars are travelling at very high speed was also a concern.

"Monaco is generally a dangerous track. It's because you have a very high speed and you jump. As you start braking you jump in the braking zone, and that's a bit of a concern obviously."

The German admitted he had not see Perez's crash.

"I didn't see it and I think it's better if I don't see it," he said.

Jenson Button and Mark Webber believe that safety measures around Monaco's chicane need to be improved, following Sergio Perez's heavy impact with the barrier during qualifying.

Perez was conscious and talking after the accident, but was taken to hospital after his Sauber hit the Armco on the right side of the circuit before colliding with another barrier at the exit of the chicane.

Button suffered a near-identical accident at the same corner in 2003 and was unable to race due to injury.

While he admitted that safety measures have been improved since then - and especially since the accident that put Karl Wendlinger in a coma in 1994, he believes there is still more than can be done.

"I think the cars have improved dramatically with safety since Karl Wendlinger's accident and the barrier has been moved back since my accident," said the McLaren driver.

"But there are some areas - and this is the main one – where we want it to be safer so that we can come here and enjoy the racing. It is a tricky corner and it's difficult to know what it [the solution] is – but I think we need to look further on what we can do with the run-off there."

"Motor racing is dangerous and it says it on the passes, [but] there is always more we can do. We need to keep tweaking some areas, sit down and really improve for the future."

Button said that F1 cars have a tendency to veer right under braking for the chicane due to the undulations of the track, and that the problem is exacerbated by cars with exhaust-blown diffusers running on low fuel loads, such as in the latter stages of qualifying.

However, he commended a decision to remove 'speed humps' from the run-off area next to the chicane, and said that this move almost certainly prevented a much more serious crash.

"It is when you first hit the brakes [that you feel it], added the 2009 world champion.

"The rear goes very light for some reason, and it seems to be more of an issue this year because of the blown diffuser systems that a lot [of the cars] have. The rear goes very light and at that point you become a passenger, it pitches you into [the] right hand side and you lose braking ability as you lose two wheels.

"I am happy [FIA technical delegate] Charlie [Whiting] made right call in taking speed humps out [of the run-off area next to the chicane] after Nico's accident, because if [they were] there, it would have been even worse."

Red Bull driver Webber echoed Button's feelings and said that Formula 1 can learn from Perez's escape.

"It has always been bumpy there under the brakes and every year the cars we have are a bit different aerodynamically," Webber said. "And in terms of safety, it's probably an area we need to look at and improve on, especially after [accidents there for] ?JB [button] and also Karl Wendlinger in the mid 1990s.

"There is a bump there, but it is just that if you have a problem with the rear, the chance to recover is very low. We saw Vitaly [Petrov] and he went straight down [the escape road]. We were also lucky they pulled the sleeping policeman up after this morning because he [Perez] could have had a nastier accident.

"We need to keep learning and work hard with the FIA with the drivers and help out the guys – we are the ones in the cockpit so it's nice to improve if we can."

Lewis Hamilton said that a wrong strategy choice was responsible for him qualifying down in seventh place for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver had been fastest in both Q1 and Q2, but only planned a single run at the end of Q3 with super soft tyres and was one of the drivers caught on a flying lap when Sergio Perez's heavy crash brought out the red flags with just over two minutes to go.

In a bid to get a good track position once the green flags waved again, Hamilton left his garage early and queued in the pitlane, causing his tyres to lose temperature and leaving him with cold tyres and brakes and an understeering car.

However, he does not believe that this was the main reason behind his worst qualifying performance since Japan last year.

"It wasn't the waiting in the pitlane, it was the strategy [we took]," said the 2008 world champion. I think we've been going well all weekend and I had the pace for pole; I'm certain about that.

"Engineers advise that we should do one [run] at the end of Q3 and I didn't contest it. You always have to take a balanced view with the engineers.

"I definitely didn't take into account - and I know they didn't either – that in Monaco you can't take risks in leaving it [your lap] right to the end.

"You have to get out and get in a banker, like everyone else did. With racing experience you'd assume that most people would have that, but I guess other things were going on and we didn't have that. It's my worst Q3 for a long time."

Hamilton said that Sunday's race would be a case of "damage limitation," for him.

"You can't overtake here, so I'll just get whatever I can," he added. "I won't give up, but there's no chance to win realistically. Sebastian [Vettel] will walk away with it, but that's racing."

Fernando Alonso believes the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix does not represent to true pecking order, as he reckons Lewis Hamilton should have been on pole.

Several drivers were hindered by the stoppage caused by Sergio Perez's crash with over two minutes of the session remaining.

That meant their final runs were not fast enough, and drivers like Hamilton were unable to set a significant time.

Alonso, who qualified in fourth, reckons the Briton, seventh today, was favourite for pole.

"In qualifying I did not have as good a feeling from the car as I got in free practice and we need to work out exactly why," said Alonso.

"Today, McLaren were very quick and I think Hamilton was probably favourite to get pole. I don't think the result of Q3 represents the true order because the red flag mixed up plans for many of the drivers.

"For Hamilton it went badly, while everything was fine for Red Bull, with us at a halfway point: we should have done two runs of two timed laps each without refuelling and therefore, we did not get the most out of the tyres."

The Ferrari driver believes overtaking will be "pretty much impossible" at Monaco despite KERS and DRS, with the Spaniard expecting drivers to try to do just one stop in the race.

"I reckon that tomorrow, overtaking will be pretty much impossible, despite the KERS, DRS and whatever else," he said. "The start will be very important and our race pace is good, so I hope I can make up some places, also making the most of any unpredictable situations and of our strategy.

"I expect some drivers will try for two stops and maybe others will risk doing only one. The car is handling better than a week ago at the Catalunya circuit: the balance is fine and the super softs are working well."

Team-mate Felipe Massa qualified in sixth and the Brazilian admitted he was not thrilled with the result.

"Starting sixth is not brilliant at Monaco but here you need to use your head in the race: we will have to concentrate throughout as anything can happen," he said.

"The start will be very important, but so too will be staying calm and cool-headed, lap after lap, because any mistake can cost you dear. Tyre degradation is less than we have seen before, so I don't think there will be so many pitstops."

Lewis Hamilton had his best qualifying time deleted for having jumped the chicane to set it and will drop down the grid of the Monaco GP.

The Briton had already endured a difficult session after finishing in seventh position, with his runs hindered by the crash involving Sergio Perez.

Hamilton's time, however, has been deleted by the FIA stewards, after they deemed the McLaren driver had jumped the chicane during that lap.

The British driver drops from seventh to ninth.

Sergio Perez will not take part in the Monaco Grand Prix following his qualifying accident, Sauber has confirmed.

The Mexican was taken to the Princess Grace hospital on Saturday after crashing heavily against the barriers at the chicane, having lost control of his car under braking.

Perez escaped serious injury, but his concussion means he will be unable to race in the Monte Carlo event.

Perez will stay in hospital at least overnight.

"Of course we are very relieved that Sergio wasn't seriously injured," said Peter Saber.

"Up to the accident he was doing very well in qualifying, and also better than expected as he had outperformed all his direct competitors."

Technical director James Key added: "First and foremost we are obviously relieved with the reports that Sergio is okay. It's always very worrying for a team when you see an accident of that magnitude, so it's good to hear that he is fundamentally okay.

"We are looking into what happened. There is no indication at the moment from the data we have seen that there was a problem with the car. But we have to talk to Sergio to investigate further what happened."

The rookie's absence means team-mate Kamui Kobayashi will be the only Sauber in the race tomorrow.

[Fernando Alonso believes that 'extreme' aerodynamic development in Formula 1 this year may have played a part in the spate of crashes in Monaco this weekend.

With F1 figures breathing a sigh of relief that Sergio Perez escaped serious injury in his frightening qualifying crash on the back of several incidents at that location in qualifying, there have been widespread calls for changes to be made to the Monaco chicane in time for next year.

And although the design of the track at that point - with the end of the tyre barrier separating an escape road and the circuit itself - has come under scrutiny, Alonso thinks that F1 also has to look at the way cars are behaving this year.

When asked for his explanation as to why four drivers have crashed at the same point, Alonso said: "I don't know really. I don't know the exact answer, but for sure there is a bump there in the braking zone which is not helping.

"It is the nature of the circuit that maybe you lose the aerodynamics there, because of the way it goes around the circuit. It is a combination of many things - the poor grip that we have with the new rules and this year, the aerodynamics of the car that are for sure going for an extreme way of developing the car with the blown diffuser and exhausts. That is the way it is unfortunately.

"For tomorrow there is not much we can do. But for next year we can see if there is a need to re-asphalt that area. For tomorrow we need to brake earlier."

One of the main contributing factors in all the crashes – suffered by Vitantonio Liuzzi, Vitaly Petrov, Nico Rosberg and Perez – is that the braking area is very bumpy, which is causing drivers to lock up their rears and lose control at that point of the track.

Petrov said the situation at the exit of the tunnel was unsafe, and something needed to be done to the track surface.

"It's dangerous," he said. "I nearly crashed there and Nico [Rosberg] was very lucky this morning. It is since they resurfaced the track after the tunnel.

"The bump is five times worse than last year and it was really difficult to brake there all weekend. I have a real problem with my back now. I think they should change it because it's dangerous."

Rubens Barrichello added: "With the bump like it is right now the car jumps, goes to the side, loses its brakes and you have no run-off.

"This morning I bet you that not just Rosberg but everyone else had their hearts in the mouth because he was so lucky. If he had gone straight forward [into the barrier] it would have been a massive shunt. Also you cannot just complain, you either do something about it and take the whole corner away, or you just live with it."

Despite Alonso's feelings about the 2011 car designs contributing to the crashes, Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn was adamant that blown diffuser development was not to blame.

"I wouldn't say there was any evidence for the blown diffuser," he said. "I think it is just a very tricky part of the track. You have quite a high lateral load on, you are braking and it is bumpy.

"In Nico's case we were planning a high fuel run because there were a couple of things we wanted to try and resolve for tomorrow, so he had high fuel and as it was a long run. Tyre pressures were low and it just caught him out. It had no relevance of the blown diffuser.

"It is bumpy there and there is a high lateral load. And if you are on the limit of grip then that is the consequence. Normally we are reasonably comfortable there, but in that incident with Nico, the tyres were low, he had a lot of fuel on board, the car was bottoming and it made it pretty tricky, so it is just a very difficult part of the track."/quote]

Post-qualifying press conference:

TV UNILATERALS

Q. Sebastian, your first pole here at Monaco. Share your feelings with us?

Sebastian VETTEL: Yes, it is a long way around here. Qualifying is tough. Three segments so in each one you have to give it your 100 per cent. We had very good preparation in Q1 and Q2, maybe not yet perfect but then in Q3 the lap I had was just spot on, so I was really happy with that. But I think sitting here now talking about qualifying, I think the most important thing was to hear that Sergio Pérez is okay. He is conscious. We all sit inside the cockpit and wait to go out, but we see the images as well. We are all thinking of him and wish him all the best and hopefully he can start the race tomorrow. It wasn't easy to wait that long time but I think the circuit in Q3 after waiting such a long time was not there anymore. Not a lot of people did improve. It was quite slippery. Had to wait long for that pole but very pleased. Always here it is very important, so very happy.

Q. Jenson, a difficult session for everybody but as Sebastian said the lap speed was not there in that final run. Tell us about the track condition when you all went out there for that final two minutes.

Jenson BUTTON: Yeah, it was very slippery. But we wanted to get out early to really push on the out lap and there wasn't any tyre temperature as we had been sitting in the pitlane for two-and-a-half minutes. It wasn't best but the great thing was I put in a good lap at the start of the session. A lap I was very happy with, much better than my Q2 lap. But I would just like to say also it is great that Sergio is talking and is okay. I think I was the last person to go in there in 2003 and I know how much it hurts. It is never nice to see that sort of thing. I hope he is okay. I am not sure he will be racing tomorrow but I hope he gets well soon.

Q. Mark, you won last year from pole position. With the new tyres and the DRS wings is it possible to win this year from third place and how did you feel about your performance today.

Mark WEBBER: Absolutely it is. The races we have seen are a bit more mixed up certainly than the last few years. Tomorrow should be no exception but qualifying here is crucial, no question about it. Pole is certainly a nice benefit to have. Seb did a great lap again today and deserves the pole. JB as well. It was a good first run. It was a messy session I think for all of us. You never anticipate not getting a second go but that is the way it felt today. Clearly the biggest priority took over when one of our colleagues, Sergio, had a tough crash and all the medical people have got to make sure they make all the precautions to extract him in the best possible way. Our thoughts are with him and he is in great hands. We know he is talking and conscious and he will bounce back from this I am sure. But we can learn from this incident. In terms of safety it's an area where we need to look at and improve for the future. JB was lucky, Karl Wendlinger back in the mid-1990's, so I think there are a few places around here we probably need to continue to keep an eye on.

Q. Sebastian, the Monaco Grand Prix is a race you have never won before. How important is it to you to put that right tomorrow?

SV: Well I wouldn't mind, let's put it this way. It is a long race. Always here it is a bit of a casino so a lot of things going on. It is a long race, 78 laps is a long way and as we have seen grands prix this year with multiple pit-stops could change in the last minute but one thing that remains unchanged is that pole position here remains important so I think we can be very happy with that. But there is no guarantee for tomorrow. All our eyes are on tomorrow's races and we have to push hard so let's see what we can do.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. Sebastian, it is no surprise to see you on pole position in many ways but there seemed to be two other teams that were looking good in practice and in qualifying itself?

SV: Yes, I think you can never be sure you are on pole especially around here. P1, P2, P3, all the practice sessions were extremely close. We knew that we should be okay, but until qualifying comes you don't know. McLaren, especially Lewis (Hamilton) looked very competitive. He was a bit unlucky. Obviously different strategy to the rest. Probably doing only one run in the end which caught him out with the red flag. Then to be honest Ferrari looked very competitive. Fernando (Alonso) in particular. I don't know what happened to them in qualifying but once you start going you are totally focussed on yourself. You try to find your way around here. I think it is very, very important to find the rhythm. In Q1 and Q2 I think we were there or thereabouts, not 100 per cent happy, but in Q3 I think the circuit did another step and we were able to use that and improve by quite a bit so all in all very happy with qualifying. Especially around here we know it is very important the position you start from. Starting on the clean side as well so couldn't be any better. But surely there is a bit of a shadow over qualifying when you see a colleague crash and not jumping out of the car immediately. Nico (Rosberg) had a similar accident this morning, same place, and he walked away so nothing to worry about. But then you sit inside your car and I was asking to get any feedback, any updates, to know how Sergio is doing. To be honest it is difficult to keep the focus and you don't feel 100 per cent well when you don't know what is going on. The message that he is fine, he is talking, he is conscious is already a big relief. We all wish him the best and to get well soon. Whether he is able to drive tomorrow I don't know. We hope but we have to see.

Q. For the race tomorrow do you feel this is more of a lottery here. Every race seems to have been so much of a lottery. Things going forward, backwards, everything? Is it more of a lottery or less than other races?

SV: It is difficult to say. I think Monaco in general is casino. There are a lot of things that can go on but we will have to see. One thing for sure overtaking is not easy here. Other tracks it was quite easy, possible, as sometimes you were on a different tyre plus DRS helped you. I think the effect of DRS here is fairly small. If you look at the distance it is not even half of what we used to have in other tracks plus even if your tyres go off, if you have someone in front and they are struggling with tyres, it will be very difficult to pass him. We have seen it in the past. I remember two years ago I had a horrible rear tyre and I was able to stay ahead. I was, I think, five seconds slower and then at some point there was no chance anymore to defend. We will see. I can give you the answer tomorrow. Obviously it is a long race here so we have to keep the focus now completely on the race and see what we can do.

Q. On the front row for the second time after China so obviously you must be pleased with that?

JB: Yeah, very pleased. These guys for some reason always seem to go a lot quicker in Q3 than in Q1 and Q2. But personally I was very happy with my lap. I didn't really get it all together in Q2. I knew there was a bit more there. Considering I was expecting to get another run I am very happy with the time I did. The car felt good and pretty much all weekend the car has given me a lot of confidence to really push it around here, which bodes well for the race. The race pace seemed to be very good. So good to be on the front row. But same as what Seb said I am glad that Sergio is talking and okay. I obviously had a big accident there in 2003 and I also know he will be very well looked after. He has probably had all the x-rays and everything by now. He is probably already shouting 'I want to be in the car, let me get back in the car,' which is what I was doing. I am glad he is okay and hopefully we will see him back soon.

Q. Tell us what the problem is going into that chicane; we've seen two cars just turn right into the barrier, why does that happen?

JB: It's when you first hit the brakes; the rear goes very light. For some reason it seems to be more of an issue this year, which surprises me, because of the blown diffuser systems that a lot of us have. But the rear goes very light and at that point you become a passenger if you get oversteer. You have no control of the car and it's pitching them into the right side barrier and then the problem is that you lose braking capability, because you've got two wheels off the car and it's just a sled, just sitting on the floor. And I'm really happy that Charlie made the right call and took away those speed humps from this morning, after Nico's accident, because I think if they had been there, the accident would have been even worse. It's a tricky corner and it's an area where it's very difficult to do anything about in terms of safety because it is what it is. It's Monaco, a street circuit, but I still think we need to look further as to what we can do with the run-off there.

Q. Mark, you're obviously a previous winner here; how much of an advantage is that?

MW: Not a disadvantage. I think Seb can join a lot of the quick boys tomorrow, obviously, with everything else he's achieved, but it's great to win here obviously: JB has, Lewis has, Fernando, myself, so quite a few of us have won here. It's a long grand prix, we know that. This year things have changed a bit more within the grands prix, as you've touched on, so let's see how it goes. For sure pole is important. Seb did a great job today, a good first run and that was enough, obviously, in a pretty chaotic session in terms of dealing with Sergio and then obviously a long, long, wait for us to go back out. So, in the end, to be honest, if you'd asked me before qualifying would I have taken third, probably I would have, but yeah, it's never nice knowing that you could do a bit better. Obviously the car, the team have done a great job getting everything ready so yeah, it was a tricky session for everybody and I'm pretty happy to be third on the grid to be honest, and it's a great position to still get a top result tomorrow. I just want to echo the boys' thoughts on Sergio. Obviously, it was a very nasty incident. We've seen a few guys have problems out of there this weekend and it's not a very nice part of the track - very, very high speed with a compromised run-off. You've got to slot down either side. Obviously, Nico went down one side and we've seen people go down the other side but if you get it in the middle, you have problems, as Sergio did today. He will be in great hands, we're all thinking of him. It's never comfortable to see one of our mates have a nasty one like that. So yeah, that can happen, but we want to see and learn how things improve in the future.

Q. You lost a full session on Thursday; how much did that hurt you?

MW: It's never a help. I've normally not been too bad around here, struggling a little bit with rhythm and not comfortable in a couple of corners on the track but getting better, to be honest. I think the short runs are actually a little bit more difficult for me than getting into a rhythm and doing a longer run. As I say, second row, try and get away well tomorrow. It's a long, long grand prix. It could be quite easy at any stage to be leading the race, it can happen, and also you can go the other way as well but I'm looking to go forward. The car's been reliable and running well, so looking forward to a long grand prix tomorrow and hopefully I'll see you guys again.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Malcolm Folley – Mail on Sunday) Jenson, you have experienced the same accident that Sergio has had. We saw Karl Wendlinger before you and DC's had an accident there and two this time. You talk about there being not much you can do about it, improving the safety there. It would suggest that something ought to be done to improve the safety there for you guys.

JB: Yes. The cars have improved dramatically in terms of safety since Karl Wendlinger's accident and the circuit has improved, the barrier's been moved back since my accident, so there have been improvements, but we need to find a solution because we all love racing here. It's a very special circuit for us and there's so much history but there's a couple of areas. That is the main area really, I think. It's an area that we need to discuss and try and come up with a solution because we all think the same thing. We all want it to be safer there, so we can really come here and really enjoy the racing.

Q. (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Guys, you've all talked about the dangers, about part of the circuit, and obviously it has become, clearly, quite dangerous. You're paid to do what you do but are all you three guys prepared to put your lives on the line tomorrow going into that race?

JB: Motor racing is dangerous; it says that on the passes, and we all know that, but there's always more we can do. We're all going to go racing tomorrow and I'm pretty sure that with higher fuel loads and everything you won't see any issues – I hope. So yeah, it is a dangerous sport, but I think we still need to keep tweaking certain areas. Some people say that it should always stay a dangerous sport, we shouldn't improve it, but I don't think that's correct. I think we've had some amazing racing this year and a lot of very safe racing, and some great fights, but there are just a couple of little areas that I think we all need to sit down and really be improved for the future.

SV: Not much to add. If we make comparisons to the past, between the lines you can read a bit of criteria that things are too safe these days and too easy in some ways, but things like this are a bit of a wake-up call, so we have to make sure that we learn from this and surely there's very little we can do for tomorrow. Obviously, the most important message was that Sergio is OK but for the future, we race on street circuits, here or places like Singapore, so it's our job, the drivers' job to make sure we defend ourselves and say OK, listen, we need this and that much space here and there and that should be the target. But, as I said, the most important thing is that Sergio is OK now and we'll have a good and safe race tomorrow.

Q. (Mathias Brunner – Speedweek) There is a lot of construction going on in that area; do you find that the track has become more bumpy than in years past?

MW: It's always been pretty bumpy out of the tunnel, on the brakes and as the boys have touched on a little bit, every year we come here the cars are a little bit different, aerodynamically. Also, in the early 2000s, we had cars with engine braking, distance mapped electronics, things that were very sophisticated to help (with) the rear locking and the problems that you can have when the rear of the car is moving around. Now the cars are a little bit more basic in some ways but then obviously you have more technology like the diffusers and things like this, so we're always looking to make the cars fast, but on the flipside of that, the cars also then become a bit easier to drive or more predictable in those tricky situations. I think there is a bump there but it's just if you have a problem with the rear of the car there at that speed, the chance to recover is very, very low. We saw Nico, obviously, and Vitaly on Thursday had a problem and he went straight down; I think he was lucky. And I think also what's important to mention that it was very lucky that they pulled the sleeping policemen up after Nico's incident this morning because I think Sergio could have even had a nastier accident with his car potentially not having the right impact into the side. We just need to keep learning and work with the FIA, and the drivers chip in every now and again and help out the guys, because we're the ones in the cockpit and it's nice to try and improve where we can.

Q. (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, this was your first pole here in Monaco. Was this the pole that you wanted the most and it must have been quite a lap because you broke Kimi's record from 2005 by one tenth?

SV: Ah, it's good to hear. I think Kimi doesn't care, to be honest. Yeah, Jenson's just said he's driving trucks these days. I was very happy with the lap. Obviousl, round here it's very important to find the rhythm. If you feel happy in the car and you have confidence in yourself and the car, then you are able to extract so much lap time around here. It's a very special circuit, it's good fun but still you need to push very, very hard, just like on a normal racetrack where you have space and nothing around. But here, any mistake could lead you into the barriers, so you feel this extra thrill and it's even more of a reward when you cross the line and you know that you had a very, very good lap. I'm very happy with that pole position. As I said, it's an important part of tomorrow's race but we've seen a lot of casino in many, many years here so we will see what happens tomorrow.

Q. (Tony Dodgins - Tony Dodgins Associates) Sebastian, last year it was Mark who was really well hooked up around here and I think they might have found a small hairline crack in your tub or something later, but does it feel like a different race car this year? What's different?

SV: The cars are different this year, the tyres are different. A lot of things are different, but to look back at last year, surely I wasn't happy, didn't always feel comfortable in the car, but I think Mark was very quick around here, and very tough to beat, especially in the race, so he gave us all a lesson on that day. We will see this year. I'm very happy with how it went today but tomorrow is a different story. All I have gained so far is eight meters over this guy (Jenson Button) so we will see what we can do tomorrow. Track position is very important here, we've learned that in the past but I think there's no rain forecast so we can leave that one out. But you never know, we're living by the sea. There are so many factors here, we will see.

[LUKIE]

A few comments on all of that. The reason Webber is so off the pace is because of how good Vettel is. Vettel is so good this season, NO ONE is on the pace with him, so I call utter bollocks on the differing treatment. And if there is differing treatment, so fucking what? Every other team does it, there is always a number 1 and number 2 driver, and if Webber thinks he shouldn't be second fiddle to Vettel, he can caress the cock of a chicken.

And sucked in Hamilton. He had a go at... Alonso, I think it was, for supposedly blocking him, when the only thing Alonso did was move over in a poor part of the track so Hamilton had to go over the manhole that they all hate. I am surprised he didn't come out and blame his poor lap times on Ferrari's blocking him.

[Katsuya]

This race is bizzare. Crashes and safety cars and Lewis can't handle being I'm the midfield *again*. Sutil and Kobayashi are genuinely up in 4th and 5th too!

[LUKIE]

Fuck Hamilton. Everything he did then was fucking pathetic.

[Sam]

How have Mclaren completely fucked this up.

[Gazz]

How have Mclaren completely fucked this up.

I think they were very unlucky on the safety car for Massa (the irony being that it was Hamilton that indirectly caused it's deployment) bunching the field up, when Button came out he had a nice piece of clear track that he would have been able to use the performance of his new tyres to reel in Vettel enough that he would retake the lead on Vettel's second stop. Now he's got stuck right behind Vettel and can't past to use his better tyres.

[Lineker]

What a race! Must also say that DC gives such a fantastic insight. Brilliant.

[LUKIE]

ALONSO!

[Katsuya]

This makes no sense! Nobody is where they're meant to be, Red Bull have completely fucked this entire thing up too it seems.

[Katsuya]

This will be interesting in the 4th-8th battle; can Sutil and Kobayashi manage to stay out for the rest of the race, if so they should be a lock for 4th & 5th. If not, in theory, Webber and Maldonado (maybe even Lewis) can indercut

[Rich]

Fuck Hamilton. Everything he did then was fucking pathetic.

Lukie dislikes Lewis Hamilton? How have I not heard of this before?

This race is confusing as hell though.