Formula One 2012

[Lineker]

I rushed back from my lunch break for a red flag bloody Checo.

[Lineker]

Schumacher!!

Must admit that I marked out a little there.

[Katsuya]

Fucks sake Michael

[LUKIE]

Webber into the wall, first corner.

[Adam]

I felt as though Schumacher forgot he had a penalty after he secured the pole lap. Would've been amusing if he'd got out the car then been reminded about it

Hopefully Webber can keep it together, he has won here before so knows what it takes. But we all know how great at starting he isn't.

[LUKIE]

We all know how great at Formula 1 driving he isn't.

[Berober]

I felt as though Schumacher forgot he had a penalty after he secured the pole lap. Would've been amusing if he'd got out the car then been reminded about it

Hopefully Webber can keep it together, he has won here before so knows what it takes. But we all know how great at starting he isn't.

[Lineker]

Michael Schumacher was fastest in Monaco Grand Prix qualifying, but Mark Webber will start from pole position due to the German's five-place grid penalty for crashing into Bruno Senna at Catalunya.

Schumacher vaulted his Mercedes from a provisional fifth on the grid after his first Q3 run to the top spot with a 1m14.301s at the end of the session.

But the penalty for his Barcelona incident means he will not be able to claim the first pole position of his Formula 1 comeback, as instead Red Bull driver Webber - who was 0.08 seconds slower - will head the Monte Carlo grid for the second time in his F1 career.

Schumacher's team-mate Nico Rosberg held provisional pole for most of Q3, before slipping to third, which will still be a front row position.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth quickest for McLaren, ahead of Lotus's Romain Grosjean - who had looked like a pole threat until a poor middle sector on his last lap.

Ferrari could not manage the pole challenge it had been tipped for, with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa sixth and seventh, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the second Lotus.

Spanish GP winner Pastor Maldonado made it to Q3 and was ninth, but his Williams will also be moved down the order due to the 10-place penalty for his incident with Sergio Perez in final practice.

Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel did not run in Q3 despite making the cut.

For the second grand prix in succession, Jenson Button failed to get beyond Q2. The McLaren driver could not improve on the 1m15.536s lap that had put him back in 13th.

A year on from his dramatic accident at the chicane, Perez was in trouble in Monaco qualifying again as he slid into the Swimming Pool barriers - seemingly due to a mechanical issue - early in Q1. The Mexican tried to drag his damaged Sauber back to the pits but succeeded only in causing a red flag when he shed a wheel and had to park at Rascasse.

Perez's team-mate Kamui Kobayashi also had a brush with the wall, but continued intact and qualified 12th.

Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne was the other man to crash, losing control under braking for the chicane and clouting the barriers, causing wing and suspension damage. That left him 17th on the grid - but this was just one place behind team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Neither Force India made Q3, with Nico Hulkenberg 11th and Paul di Resta 15th.

Senna again failed to match Williams team-mate Maldonado's pace and was only 14th.

At the back, Heikki Kovalainen came within a tenth of getting his Caterham into Q2 and beat team-mate Vitaly Petrov by nearly a second.

HRT's Pedro de la Rosa was also impressive as he split the Marussias and was only a tenth off Timo Glock.

Qualifying


Pos  Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   

 1.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m14.301s

 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m14.381s   + 0.080

 3.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m14.448s   + 0.147

 4.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m14.583s   + 0.282

 5.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m14.639s   + 0.338

 6.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m14.948s   + 0.647

 7.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m15.049s   + 0.748

 8.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m15.199s   + 0.898

 9.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m15.245s   + 0.944

10.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     no time

Q2 cut-off time: 1m15.322s                                   Gap **

11.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m15.421s   + 0.510

12.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m15.508s   + 0.597

13.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m15.536s   + 0.625

14.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m15.709s   + 0.798

15.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m15.718s   + 0.807

16.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m15.878s   + 0.967

17.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m16.885s   + 1.974

Q1 cut-off time: 1m16.491s                                    Gap *

18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m16.538s   + 1.120

19.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m17.404s   + 1.986

20.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m17.947s   + 2.529

21.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m18.096s   + 2.678

22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m18.476s   + 3.058

23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m19.310s   + 3.892

24.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       no time


107% time: 1m20.697s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2[/code]


Pastor Maldonado has been given a 10-place grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix.


The punishment is for colliding with Sergio Perez in the closing stages of final practice at Monaco - a breach of Article 16.1 of the FIA's Sporting Code.


The Spanish Grand Prix winner caused the session to be red-flagged when he crashed at Casino Square, having made contact with the Sauber driver on his previous lap at Portier.


Perez appeared to move off line and slow down visibly to allow the Venezuelan past between the corner after the Loews Hairpin and Portier, but Maldonado turned across the Sauber driver on the entrance to the right hander ahead of the tunnel.


Maldonado was penalised during last year's Belgian Grand Prix for a similar incident with Lewis Hamilton.


Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg was also reprimanded after the session for impeding Perez at the final corner during free practice 3.


Pastor Maldonado looks set to start the Monaco Grand Prix from the back of the grid, with his Williams team planning to change his gearbox before the race.


The Venezuelan, who won from pole position in Spain a fortnight ago, had been scheduled to start 19th on the grid due in part to a 10-place grid penalty he was given for causing a collision with Sergio Perez in final free practice.


But following examination of his car by Williams after qualifying, it was found that there was a problem with his gearbox - perhaps as the result of a crash in final practice – that means he will face a further five place drop.


Chief operations engineer Mark Gillan said: "The car had a lot of damage in it, to the point where we are having to change the gearbox in it as well.


"There was a significant amount of damage to the car, so the guys did a really good job to even get it out for qualifying."


Gillan admitted that the qualifying result for Monaco was a disappointment, on the back of its success in Barcelona.


"I've no doubt we could have done P4 or P5, with a decent clean run, or maybe even higher. But Pastor did not match his Q2 time and his time in Q3 was set with old super soft tyres, so there was definitely quite a bit more to be had.


"It's disappointing. But it is still good that we are disappointed because the pace is definitely there."


Pastor Maldonado has criticised the inconsistency of punishments doled out by the stewards at grand prix meetings following his 10-place grid penalty for colliding with Sergio Perez during final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.


The Spanish Grand Prix winner insists that his contact with the Sauber driver on the run in to Portier was not deliberate, despite appearing to swipe in front of the Mexican, and was in fact the result of a mistake on cold tyres.


With no apparent damage to either car, Maldonado questioned whether his punishment should have been bigger than that of Michael Schumacher's in Spain, where the Mercedes driver crashed into Bruno Senna, causing both cars to retire from the grand prix.


"If you remember Schumacher in the last race, he damaged the race of Bruno, my team-mate," said Maldonado. "And he got only five places.


"I did nearly nothing, it was just a little touch, because of the condition of the track... it is a very narrow track, I lost the car, maybe I could have backed off a little bit but I was trying to not get traffic on my best lap.


"So it's a difficult to say. It's very inconsistent, but that's the reality."


Maldonado said the accident occurred because he lost rear grip on cold tyres, on his out-lap on the super softs, and the car swerved when the grip returned.


"I was trying overtake him and I lost the car," he said. "Maybe I was too optimistic on the throttle on cold tyres, because it was my first lap with a new option and I was trying to recover the car, it got too much grip and I touched his front left wheel. That's it.


"It's disappointing for the penalty because it was quite big for what happened but this is the rules."


Maldonado will start 24th on the grid for Sunday's race (taking into account his five-place penalty for a gearbox change), and while he accepts his race has been compromised, he has not given up on a points finish.


"Tomorrow is going to be a tough race, but for sure we have a good car," he said. "I think everybody saw in qualifying that we were close to the top.


"I will do my best tomorrow and everything is possible here on this track. For the strategy I'm quite confident. I know very well the track. I have great confidence and the most important thing is that we show that Williams is working hard and is now very close to the top.


"Tomorrow we are looking for the points," he added. "It is going to be very tough, but I will have the pace, which is good and consistent. We have tyres. We have everything to be there. And we are quick on the middle stint so it depends on the race, it depends if we will have some safety car.


"These kind of races are difficult to plan for. You need to be ready and to react to any conditions."


Michael Schumacher vowed to fight for his sixth Monaco Grand Prix victory on Sunday despite having to take a five-place grid penalty that nullifies what would have been his first pole position since returning to Formula 1 two and a half years ago.


The 43-year-old German admitted that it meant a great deal to him to be quickest in qualifying on the tough street track, having come in for some criticism over his slow start to the 2012 season. The penalty means that Red Bull's Mark Webber will start from pole.


"First of all, I am more than thrilled and excited about making a pole here in Monaco," said Schumacher, who received the penalty following his collision with Bruno Senna in the Spanish Grand Prix. "Monaco to all of us is the track of the year that has a very prestigious position, and to manage pole position here after what I have gone through in the last two and a half years is just fabulous. And that is what sticks into my mind.


"I told you guys in the press conference that I would get pole, start sixth and win it - and that is what I am going to aim for. That's all I have in my mind and the past doesn't matter."


Schumacher, who has started from pole position in Monaco three times in his career, described the feeling when he knew he was fastest as 'beautiful'.


"Obviously I saw my time on the dashboard [i thought] it should not be too bad, but you don't know as being one of the early ones out on track you don't know what will come behind.


"Seeing the monitors and at one point I saw number one and then I started to believe and got confirmation on the radio, it is just beautiful.


"Monaco being so special, we call it in terms of percentage a bit more of a driver track than other tracks, and because of the prestigious atmosphere and what it means for us, it is super fantastic if you manage to do such a lap," he added. "I knew I was on the lap, but you are never sure as we have seen how tight qualifying has been.


"It is very tricky in these days and not always possible to get all these together. Here and now we did and hopefully we learned more and more in order to do it more often. Reminding me I am still around is a good point."


Schumacher added that he saw his performance as a vindication of the level he believes he has been able to operate at for some time, in spite of results not always matching his expectations.


"I leave it up to others what it means or does not means, to me I am obviously excited and very happy and confirms what I have felt for a long time," he said when asked what being fastest in Monaco qualifying meant. "It is just sometimes you have to put everything together at the right moment.


"I have to say a great thanks to all the team, particularly some of the guys who work very closely with me - we had a special session earlier this week that unified and united us even further.


"This is the result that comes together from that. I am grateful to the trust that Mercedes and the team had in me, they supported me. I am happy to give it back and want to give more back tomorrow."


Mark Webber said Saturday was Michael Schumacher's day, despite the Australian inheriting pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix.


Webber will start from first place on Sunday despite finishing in second place in qualifying in Monte Carlo.


Mercedes driver Schumacher was quickest, but will drop five places on the grid for having caused a collision in the previous race at Barcelona.


A delighted Webber welcomed the result, but conceded Schumacher had been better.


"It is Michael's day," said Webber. "A good lap from him. It was a tight session and lots of different people arrived at the back end of qualifying with different situations with tyres.


"I knew I was aiming for the first few rows for sure - and it came tight. The first run in Q3 was not too bad, and I thought I could go for pole. It was a pretty good lap and I'm happy with it. It's a very good position to be starting tomorrow. We have a very good car. The guys have done a good job and I am very, very happy."


The Australian said it was tricky to think of better ways to punish a driver that is out of a race other than using grid penalties like the one Schumacher was given.


"After qualifying I thought I had a penalty as my engineer said 'great lap and blah, blah, blah, penalty' - and I didn't know what I had done," said Webber.


"When you have an incident in the grand prix that is always a tricky thing. When incidents happen apart from fines what else can you do? How do you enforce regulations on driver behaviour or team behaviour after that?"


Webber admitted Saturday's race is hard to predict given it will be the first time the super softs tyres are raced this season.


"Everyone is in the same boat. We don't have a huge amount of experience with super soft in long runs. Everyone is in ball park I would imagine."


When asked if he could use a one-stop strategy in the race, he said: "In 24 hours we will see."


Sauber is still investigating whether or not something broke on Sergio Perez's car after the Mexican hit the wall through the Swimming Pool section at the start of Q1, rendering him at the back of the grid without a qualifying time.


Perez, who finished second in the Malaysian Grand Prix, has shown good pace in Monaco practice and this proved the first time that he had been bumped out of qualifying at the first stage in 2012.


"I am disappointed as I felt we could fight for a very good grid position here," he said. "We are still analysing everything to see if there was something wrong with the car.


"I was on my first lap, so was not pushing a lot. I went into the tunnel and had a lot of understeer and then I went into turns 13 and 14. Thirteen was quite fine but in 14 I just went straight and didn't get the car to turn."


Team-mate Kamui Kobayashi also made brief contact with the barriers but continued, though he failed to make Q3, placing 12th.


"Of course I had hoped for a better result today," said the Japanese. "With the super soft tyre compound you only have one lap to set a good time. I managed to improve in Q2, but unfortunately not enough to be able to start in Q3.


"Nevertheless, the car was good and it will be good in the race, so I think we can improve tomorrow. A lot will also depend on our race strategy and some luck in terms of safety car periods, which can always happen here. I'm positive we can score good points tomorrow."


Sergio Perez believes his clash with Pastor Maldonado in free practice at Monaco this morning was the cause of his qualifying crash.


The Sauber driver and the Williams made contact in FP3 before Perez crashed at the Swimming Pool right-hander in the opening minutes of qualifying.


The team checked the car after the practice accident and believed it was fixed, but Perez now thinks it could have caused the later smash.


"We cannot prove with the data that there was a problem, but looking at the onboard with the whole team, we all agree that there was a problem, and we think it came from this morning," said Perez, who also crashed out in Monaco qualifying last season.


"We changed most of the parts, but not all. We don't have enough sensors in the suspension to see what the problem is.


"The car was not 100 per cent. I arrived in the tunnel and I had massive understeer. In Turn 13 it was OK, then into 14 suddenly the car went straight. If you have a small problem like that here the first thing you find is the wall."


Perez believes the stewards were right to give Maldonado a 10-place grid penalty as a result of the FP3 incident.


"I don't know what Pastor was doing this morning," he said. "It was completely unnecessary.


"We were on a slow lap. I wanted to do a slower lap, but he wanted to go quicker so I went on the inside to let him by and he drove into me.


"It was a big shame because we had a really competitive car and I think we could have fought for a really good position. We had a great opportunity."


Jenson Button believes moving forward in tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix will be tough after he was mystified by a lack of pace in qualifying.


The McLaren driver had been competitive in practice, but failed to make Q3 and will start the race from 12th.


"I didn't make a mistake, it just wasn't quick," admitted the 2009 Monaco victor. "This morning the car felt good and the pace was pretty strong, but we don't have it this afternoon - when it counts."


It is the second race in a row Button has suffered a drop in pace between practice and qualifying, and he is still looking for an answer.


"It's very strange," he added. "It's there at some point in the weekend, even this morning I felt the car was good. We did make some set-up changes, which I thought would have been better, but maybe not.


"It was the same as the last race. In practice the car feels good and then I get to qualifying and I can't find that car.


"The laptime is irrelevant, it's what the car feels like and it felt much better this morning. Hopefully we'll find out the reasons for it."


Despite the unpredictability of F1 in 2012, Button believes progress during the race will be difficult.


"I don't think it's going to be like the rest of the season," he said. "Monaco is all about qualifying.


"Tomorrow is going to be really tough starting where I am. I don't know if the pace will be better in the race and it's very difficult to overtake. "


Lewis Hamilton believes he can fight for victory at Monaco after qualifying on row two in one of "the toughest qualifying sessions" of his career.


The McLaren driver was fourth quickest in Q3 and will start third thanks to Michael Schumacher's penalty.


"It was one of the toughest qualifying sessions I've experienced for some time, but it was so much fun," said Hamilton. "We got everything out of every set of tyres. We got the best we could out of the car we had.


"Third is a good place to start from. It's going to be tough, but anything can happen."


The Briton, who is the only driver in the last eight years to have won Monaco from somewhere other than pole, believes he can be in the mix tomorrow.


"The tyres and strategy can play a big role here," he added. "If we get a good start then we're in fighting position for the win. I've got a good feeling for the weekend, but I've got two great drivers in front of me who will make it as hard as possible.


"I've tried overtaking here and I've proved it's almost impossible! I hope we don't have to do too much overtaking tomorrow. I will try and keep it clean, keep it on the track, and make sure we score as many points as possible."


Like team-mate Jenson Button, Hamilton believes the team still has work to do to understand the Pirelli tyres.


"I think it was the low speed corners we weren't so quick," he said. "We made a lot of changes coming into qualifying. It wasn't bad, but we're struggling for low-speed grip, for whatever reason.


"In Barcelona we were very good at low speed in the last part of the circuit, but I think it's the tyres again. Even though it's warm, we're struggling to get them to switch on and really give us the grip."


Romain Grosjean believes pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix was within reach for him despite finishing down in fifth position.


The Lotus driver was three tenths of a second slower than Michael Schumacher, quickest in the session, after failing to get the most out of his car in the second sector during his final run in Q3.


Grosjean will start from fourth place following Schumacher's penalty.


"We are not as high on the grid as we wanted to be, but things were very tight today," said Grosjean. "I did a very good lap in the first part of Q3 but then I couldn't improve on my second set of tyres. This was a shame because our strategy was perfect for the last part of qualifying.


"The traffic wasn't too bad but I missed out in sector two. I think pole position was within reach. P4 is not exactly where we wanted to be but the race will be long.


"It's Monaco, it will be difficult; nonetheless we know that the car is quite good on high fuel and with the tyres, so let's see what we can do and put the best strategy into place."


Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen qualified in eighth position, the Finn not happy with his performance after struggling to get his tyres working properly.


"For sure we're not very happy after that session," he said. "Since the first practice we've been a little bit behind where we should have been and we've been trying to catch up. The car is fine, the biggest problem today was trying to get the tyres working as it seemed to be a bit tricky to get them up to temperature.


"I could have been a bit faster on my best lap, but I went a little bit too deep in the Swimming Pool section. It's a bit disappointing but you can't get it right every time.


"At a normal racetrack you would be able to gain positions through overtaking, but in Monaco this is difficult. That said, anything can happen here so hopefully we can achieve something good tomorrow."


Sebastian Vettel reckons anything is possible in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix and remains positive that his strategy of starting on the soft compound option tyre could play into his hands during the race.


Last year's winner from pole, Vettel gave up on his qualifying attempt in Q3 in order to save his tyres, and will start from ninth on the grid after Pastor Maldonado takes his 10-place grid penalty.


But while the world champion accepted that starting mid-pack made his race more challenging, he suggested that being able to run longer on his first stint than all those that qualified on supersoft tyres could play into his hands in terms of track position.


"Well it's Monaco," he said. "Some people say it might rain tomorrow so that would make a big difference, but nevertheless we have the possibility to start on the hard tyre and have a different kind of race.


"Usually it's all about track position and we start from P9 and we have some cars ahead, but it could be different after the first stops, so we will see what we can do."


Vettel admitted that he would prefer to have started on the front row - his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber took the second Monaco pole position of his career on Saturday – but explained that a set-up change between FP3 and qualifying scuppered his chances.


"This morning I was very happy, to be honest, and I think we were quite competitive," he said. "We were going quicker than we were this afternoon with less effort.


"But yeah, we decided to change the car a little bit and it turned out to make a big difference. So I think we ended up worse than we thought we would.


"Obviously it's completely different when you put fuel in the car but we will get an answer tomorrow. We are starting on the hard tyres, that was the idea why we went out on the harder tyres and we will really go from there.


"Obviously we would have loved to have qualified at the front but after Q1, and in particular Q2, we saw that pole position was not really in reach for me. That's why we decided to go the other way and we will see what we can do tomorrow."


Vettel won last year's race employing a one-stop strategy but questioned whether the same plan would be possible in Sunday's race.


"I think it's always open here because you never know what is going to happen in the race," he said. "It's a long race and there could be a safety car. You might be able to catch up, or lose all your advantage over someone else. It really depends. I think it can be fairly open.


"Last year I think we made the one-stop work but I think it is borderline. I'm not sure whether we can do that again this year. I think some people will try tomorrow. Other people will not.


"It's really difficult, in particular because we didn't have the Thursday running when you get a better idea of how the cars behave."


Lewis Hamilton has praised Michael Schumacher's Monaco qualifying effort and believes the 43-year-old will be a threat in the race despite his grid penalty.


Schumacher's Mercedes topped Q3, nearly 0.3 seconds faster than Hamilton's McLaren, but will start sixth due to a penalty for his clash with Bruno Senna at the Spanish Grand Prix


Hamilton was impressed with Schumacher's effort, but said it was not a shock to him.


"I'm not surprised - the car has been quick all weekend and he has won here five times before," said Hamilton.


"Michael did a really great job, not bad for an old timer! It's great to see him performing so well. Big congratulations to him."


Hamilton believes Schumacher and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg will be competitive tomorrow.


"The Mercedes was incredibly quick today," he added. "I know Michael has a penalty, but he will still be very quick tomorrow."


Felipe Massa believes he can be more competitive for the rest of the 2012 Formula 1 season after qualifying seventh for the Monaco Grand Prix.


Massa scored only two points in the first five rounds of the season, compared to Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso's 61, and had not previously made it into Q3 in 2012.


He admitted on the run-up to Monaco that he hoped this weekend would be "the beginning of a different championship" for the Brazilian.


Having topped Q2, Massa qualified just a tenth behind Alonso and will line up on row four.


He put his improved form down to the upgrades brought to the F2012 at, and after, the Mugello test earlier this month.


"It's a more comfortable car for me so from the first day and first practice I think it was quite positive," he said.


"Even if for me its the first time I have achieved Q3 this year maybe we could have been nearer the front if we had done in Q3 what we did in Q2.


"I think it is quite positive for the race tomorrow, but also quite positive about what we do with the car and the set-up we use.


"The race is important for me and to start a different championship from now until the end of the year."


Pedro de la Rosa celebrated what he labelled as his best ever lap around Monaco to escape the final row of the grid ahead of Sunday's grand prix.


The HRT driver qualified in 21st position, ahead of the Marussia of Charles Pic and just a tenth of a second behind Timo Glock. The Spaniard was also 1.2 seconds faster than team-mate Narain Karthikeyan.


"It was the best qualifying session of the year and, without a doubt, the best lap I've ever done in Monaco," said de la Rosa. "The car went well and we decided to do three runs with three new sets of super softs because we already know that in Monaco the most important thing is to do one good lap.


"And that's just what happened and I'm delighted about it because getting into the 1m18.0s here is very good. I'm very satisfied because we got our timing right, the team knew when was the right moment to come out in order to avoid traffic and I accomplished my job, which was to do the best lap possible."


De la Rosa admitted he took several risks during his final flying lap.


"I must admit I took some risks, on some laps in the last sector I even almost closed my eyes, but I had to attack and did just that," he said. "With one more tenth we would have also overtaken Glock but the truth is that we're very happy with how the day went."


Karthikeyan qualified in 23rd position.


Heikki Kovalainen believes he could have made it into Q2 in this afternoon's qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix had it not been for traffic.


Kovalainen's Caterham will start tomorrow's race from 18th. He was only 0.047s away from making it out of Q1 after Sauber driver Sergio Perez crashed early on.


The Finn blamed a Marussia for not doing better than his 1m16.538s, but was pleased with his car.


"I've had a good balance all weekend and I went into this session knowing I could push," he said.


"I'd said to my engineer before quali that I thought we could get into Q2 and we were very close - if it hadn't been for one of the Marussia cars slowing me up in the final sector we'd have been there, but it's not a huge issue. That's what happens in Monaco."


Kovalainen still believes he can take the fight to the midfield in the race.


"Around here I think tomorrow we have the car to be able to fight the cars ahead throughout the race," he added.


"So far this season we've been able to stay with them for pretty much most of the first two stints, but because it's a shorter lap here we'd like to be able to fight for the whole race. Whether it's dry, wet or in between, it doesn't really matter to me – whatever happens I'm looking forward to it."


Mercedes has confirmed that its head of aerodynamics Loic Bigois is to leave the team - amid speculation that he is on his way to Ferrari.


Bigois has been at the Brackley-based team since its Honda days in 2007, but has elected to move on as the result of a restructuring of the technical department.


Team principal Ross Brawn said technical director Geoff Willis is to assume a more senior role in aerodynamics, and other reshuffling of staff meant Bigois had to take on a revised position that he did not want.


When asked by AUTOSPORT about the situation, Brawn said: "Loic has been a really important member of the team for a number of years but we have had an internal reorganisation.


"Perhaps, with some of the restructuring we have done, it didn't fit in with what he was hoping to do, so he asked to be released from his contract and we released him. He is going somewhere else at the end of the year."


He added: "We wanted to move forward in the way we organised the aero group and Geoff Willis is in charge of that group now. We wanted to do things differently, and Lois did not want to do the new role that we proposed for him, so it was by mutual agreement."


Despite speculation that Bigois is to take a role in the wind tunnel department at Ferrari, the Maranello-based team has insisted that no deal is in place with the Frenchman.

Post-qualifying press conference:


[spoiler]TV UNILATERAL


Q. (Michael, many congratulations, a great lap. I guess the only shame is that you have to move five places back on the grid, so a bittersweet feeling is it?


Michael SCHUMACHER: First of all, I am more than thrilled and excited about making a pole here in Monaco. Monaco to all of us is the track of the year, which has a very prestigious position, and to manage pole position here after what I have gone through in the past two-and-a-half years is just fabulous. That's what sticks in my mind. I told you guys already in the press conference, my situation is going to be pole, start the race in sixth and I'm going to win it. That's what I'm here for and what I'm going to aim for. That's all I gave in min mind and the past doesn't matter at all.


Q. (Mark, you were on pole here in 2010 and you're going to inherit it tomorrow from Michael, what do you think about that?


Mark WEBBER: Pretty amazing session wasn't it. It was very, very close. Q3 was tight between the first few rows. Obviously there were some different tyre strategies going on with different people getting through different parts of qualifying with different sets of tyres and in the end it was a good little battle. Michael did a good lap, fair play to him, but it's nice to move up a position. Of all places, it's good to start definitely towards the front here. The guys have done a good job, they worked hard on the rest day, they pushed very, very hard. We weren't too strong on Thursday and obviously didn't get much running, though everyone's the same. But the car on Sunday is generally pretty good, so looking forward to tomorrow.


Q. (Nico, you're only a tenth off pole position. You had provisional pole for quite a long time. I guess you thought you'd done enough. Nevertheless, a chance to win the race tomorrow from where you start.


Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, I wasn't too aware of the situation. I knew I had done a pretty good lap time but at the same time I knew that I would have to improve on that time to be able to get pole. But in general it was a good qualifying for me too. Everything went to plan. I didn't optimise my car perfectly in the end, bit too much understeer, but as such, front row is a great place to start tomorrow.


Q. (Back to you Michael. Obviously it's been a tough couple of years since you decided to make your Formula One comeback. What does this pole say about you and how do you feel?


MS: Well, I'll leave it up to the others to say what it means or doesn't mean. For me, I'm obviously excited, very happy. It confirms what I have felt for a long time. It's just sometimes you have put everything at the right moment together. Here it worked out. I have to say a great thanks to all the team, in particular to some of the guys who work very close to me. We had a special session earlier this week that, yeah, it sort of uniforms and unites us even further and those are the result that come together with it. I'm grateful for all the trust that Mercedes, the team had in me and [they] supported me. I'm able to give back a little and I hope I give even further and more back tomorrow.


PRESS CONFERENCE


Q. (Michael, your feelings about this pole position? Admittedly, it will be sixth on the grid.


MS: Obviously I saw my time on the dashboard and thought, 'well, it shouldn't be too bad'. But then you don't know - as I was one of the earlier ones on track for the lap – what is going to come behind. So I was watching all of these monitors around the track and at one point I saw with a little sign, number one. And that was the moment I started slowly to believe and got confirmation on the radio. Yeah, just beautiful.


Q. (Is this a good Mercedes track? Obviously you're first and third in qualifying.


MS: I mentioned before the weekend that here and probably Canada are tracks that are probably going to suit us. We shouldn't look too bad. I told in the round of media after this one down at the TV stations, I said the plan is to be pole here, start the race from sixth and do whatever is possible – may even win – and here we are. It is not a complete surprise that we are able to fight for the front position. But after Thursday free practice and even this morning I wasn't at all confident to be able to fight for pole position. Then everything seemed to work together. We just dialled the car in to perfection and it's... yeah… it's just a result. It's a result of team effort and team work and getting everything sorted and being ready for it.


Q. (The statistics say that the highest winning grid position is third on the grid here. What can you do from sixth?


MS: Well, what can I say? I've finished fifth from being last; I won from I don't know what positions. I will do as good as I can. It's most likely to be a one-stop strategy here, that's what you have to live with so in terms of strategy there's only a very small window to play with. Overtaking we know is tough but we have DRS and KERS so you might as well try – and be sure I will.


Q. (Mark, as we mentioned the other day, you had your first podium here, you won from pole in 2010, you'll be starting on pole tomorrow, you've been in the top five for the last four years. It all looks good, doesn't it?


MW: First of all, I think it's Michael's day. It's a good lap for him so obviously it was a tight session for us. Lots of different people arrived in the back part of the important session in quali with different situations with tyres. Quali went quite smooth for me. It's the first time of the weekend where you put everything on the line – within reason – so it started to feel pretty good for me and I knew it was aiming for the first few rows for sure. And then it became very, very tight between us and I thought, OK, well, after the first run in Q3, it wasn't too bad a lap, I thought, we can still go for pole for sure on the last run. And yeah, it was a pretty good lap, I'm pretty happy with it. Very, very good position to be starting tomorrow and we have a very, very good car, the guys have done a good job and I'm very happy with today's effort.


Q. (How well prepared are all the teams, would you say, after losing most of Thursday?


MW: Everyone's in the same boat. I think that we don't have a huge amount of experience with the supersoft around here on long runs, but everyone's going to be in the ballpark I would imagine.


Q. (Michael says he feels it's a one-stop race. Is that pretty much the strategy?


MW: 24 hours mate, we'll see!


Q. (Nico, obviously you're starting on the front row. What does it mean here at what is your home circuit?


NR: I can also be pleased with today. Generally it's all gone well, the whole weekend until now. It's especially great to see how we, as a team, have managed to turn things around from a difficult time the last two races and now be right at the front again. It's just nice to follow all the progress we're making, moving forward and really fighting hard to improve the car and get the best of the situation – and that's why today to really be on top as a team in qualifying is great and I'm very pleased, obviously, to start on the front row in Monaco. That is a great place to start to have a good race.


Q. (You needed two laps on the first set of tyres in Q3. We didn't see what happened at the end of the lap.


NR: Two things: mainly the front warm-up on the tyres was an issue but also I did some setup changes from Q2 to Q3 and I had to find my way around those first, because it was quite a different strategy so that's why it took me two laps.


Q. (And, as was the question to Mark, is the team perfectly happy with the preparation, given that you lost most of Thursday afternoon?


NR: Yes. It's not going to be easy, the race, definitely, you know a long race and tyre degradation is going to definitely be an issue but I think we've prepared well and done the best we can to make sure we have a strong race car.


QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR


Q. (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) Michael, you set a fantastic pole position; I would like to know how you rate this one among all the others?


MS: May I just say that you have to see two different chapters of life and this is the second one, which stands by itself, because in this Silver Arrow time, in terms of qualifying is the best position I have been in and luckily I'm able to give back, in that way, all the trust that has been shown in me over the last two and a half years.


Q. (Leonid Novozhilov– F1 Life) Michael, is this pole position the best of your life and secondly, how many poles do you think you can set for the team this season?


MS: Similar answer to what I just said before, because how I rate this pole to others… it's the first one of the second part of my career and naturally that's the better one, because it's the first one. It's just sweet and a good feeling after you have come back and have hoped for better results in all circumstances at the end of the day, after why and what has happened, but to finally get it together and being able to prove it – that's much more important and therefore I'm certainly delighted.


Q. (Dan Knutson – Honorary) Mark, on Thursday you were not very optimistic about getting on the front row. What did the team change to make the car so much better today?


MW: We certainly pulled the balance together a lot more. Obviously there are no real fast corners here but there are a few where you need to be able to keep the car in the line, especially into Casino but also through the Swimming Pool. You need to have a very good rhythm and pace through there, which we didn't really have on Thursday, so the car, between low and high speed wasn't great. We really really pulled that together. Also I think the track helped as well, the rubber on the circuit helped pull it together. The driver always brakes a little bit later on Saturday, so that helps a bit as well. Altogether the guys have done a great job and I think we got the maximum, actually, from what we could do today.


Q. (Andrew Frankel – Forza) Mark, with all the hoopla, all the sponsors, everybody here, do you sleep just as well, starting tomorrow from pole position? Are you a bit twitchy, nervous or whatever?


MW: That's Formula One around here. It is unique, it is a special event. In some cases I used to like Magny Cours because we could go there and just drive the cars and leave, but here, getting around and the people… always being close and demanding things and all that sort of stuff is not always ideal, but that's the way it is. Sponsors, they come to a lot of different races. They are great for our programme but they are not in the cockpit with me and that's why they trust in us to get the job done.


Q. (Marco Giachi– Paddock) Michael and Nico, do you think the special device that you have in the front wing helped you get this very very good performance, to keep the car more balanced?


MS: First of all, it is obviously only available in qualifying and only if we can overtake in the race, otherwise it's not available. Monte Carlo… you almost get no effect from it. There's a very small advantage because of the nature of the track, so I don't think you see any particular advantage in this one. For sure there is some advantage – that's why we have it, otherwise we wouldn't have built it, but certainly not enough to discuss it.


Q. (Cedric Voisard – Le Figaro) Question regarding penalties : would you say that it would be better and clearer for the public to apply penalties on site instead of at the next race ?


MW: After qualifying, I thought I had the penalty because my engineer said 'well done, great lap, de-de-de, penalty' and I thought 'shit, what for? I've done nothing.' Yeah, then I was slightly relieved to hear it wasn't me who had got the penalty. When you have an incident in a Grand Prix, that's obviously the tricky thing, because it's people's decisions after the previous race… When incidents happen I suppose that apart from fines, what else can you do? Sunday's indiscretions. How do you enforce any regulation on driver behaviour or team behaviour or whatever after that? Do you have any ideas? I don't know.


Q. (Malcolm Folley – Mail on Sunday) Michael, with your rich history round here, can you tell us what it was like to put that lap together today. The world watches this qualifying session perhaps more so than anywhere else; it was the ideal time to remind everybody that you still do have it.


MS: You have probably already put my answer into your question. Monaco, being so special… we call it a bit more of a driver track than some other tracks we run on through the year, but particularly because of the prestigious atmosphere and what it all means to us, it is super-fantastic if you manage to do such a lap. I knew that I was on a lap but then you can never be sure because we have seen how close and how tight today qualifying has been and I just managed to get it together perfectly, because everything was prepared and that is the nature of Formula One. It is very tricky these days and it's not always possible to have everything together at all times but here and now we did, and we hopefully learn more and more in order to do that more often. But reminding people that I'm still around, yup, that's a good point.


Q. (Frank Schneider – Bild) Michael, how come that you were able to predict this pole position last week when you were in Le Mans?


MS: Yip, not only did I say it on Wednesday here but I did so at Le Mans as well, that's true. I sort of felt that our car could be strong here, so it wasn't out of the blue, and it wasn't just a funny comment. There was quite a bit of optimism in there but I guess that's my nature.


Q. (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) We've had some particularly variable weather over the last three days and we were expecting a wet qualifying session; are you expecting or afraid of a wet race or do you think it's going to stay dry?


MS: I'm expecting, at my pit stop, that it will start raining.


NR: Local knowledge hasn't really helped the last few days. It's been very unusual, that's not the normal weather here, that in the morning we have sunshine and then in the afternoon everything goes dark. It's very strange.


MW: I just do whatever Jenson does!


Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paul) Michael, does a result like this – the maximum, pole position – have weight in your decision whether to continue or not in Formula One?


MS: You imagine that just because of one result I've done at this moment I'm suddenly restarting or opening a different subject. No, that's not the case. I'm focused on what I'm doing right now. There will come a time when I will make summary of everything and then I will sit down with the team to see what we're going to do.


Q. (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Michael, in the first chapter of your life, when you were on pole, you had two or three cars trying to win, like Ferrari or McLaren, and now we have 10 or 12 cars potential winners here. How do you see the race tomorrow from pole position?


MS: Naturally there are more contenders for winning this race than maybe there used to be in the past, that's true and that is why it's also so tight. I don't know what the time gap is between positions one and ten today but I guess it's much less than it used to be in the past. But that's how Formula One has evolved and there are particular reasons for this. Being up front, I like it but being on the other side you may disagree.


Q. (Olivier de Wilde – Le Derniere Heure) Michael, it's a pity you have this penalty, especially here. Do you think it was justified?


MS: I'm not thinking about two weeks ago. I'm just thinking about the now and what will happen. That's it. I'm focused forward.[/spoiler]

[Gazz]

Epic photobomb

[Liam]

I don't particularly like F1, but I always end up watching it.

Go...someone.

[Gazz]

GROSJEAN!

[Lineker]

I don't particularly like F1, but I always end up watching it.

Go...someone.

Anyone but Lewis!

Sauber has elected to change Sergio Perez's gearbox prior to Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, meaning the Mexican will move back one place to 24th on the grid.

Perez had initially qualified last after he crashed at the first part of the Swimming Pool in Q1, suspecting a car problem possibly related to a collision with Pastor Maldonado in final practice.

Maldonado was then given penalties both for that clash and a gearbox change, which meant the Venezuelan moved right back to 24th and Perez was elevated to 23rd.

But they will now switch places again following Sauber's decision to give Perez a fresh gearbox as well.

Red Bull Racing is embroiled in a technical row ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, with rival teams unhappy about the floor design on the pole-winning car.

It is understood that at least three teams - believed to be McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes - are questioning the design of a 'hole' in the floor situated ahead of the rear wheels of the RB8.

Although no outfit is willing to speak officially on the matter, sources have suggested that while there is no motivation to take the issue to an official protest yet, such an action cannot be totally ruled out.

Under article 3.12.5 of Formula 1's technical regulations, teams are not supposed to have any hole in the floor in certain areas - and it is the location of these slots that appears to be the main issue.

The rules state: "All parts lying on the reference and step planes, in addition to the transition between the two planes, must produce uniform, solid, hard, continuous, rigid (no degree of freedom in relation to the body/chassis unit), impervious surfaces under all circumstances."

It then adds: "Forward of a line 450mm forward of the rear face of the cockpit entry template, fully enclosed holes are permitted in the surfaces lying on the reference and step planes provided no part of the car is visible through them when viewed from directly below."

Red Bull Racing has declined to comment on the matter, but a senior source at the team insists that the design has been declared legal by the FIA and that there is no intention of modifying it because rival teams are unhappy.

The design in question has been on the car since the Bahrain Grand Prix, which Sebastian Vettel went on to win.

One option the team would have to avoid the possibility of a post-race protest would be to change the design of the slots to avoid any risk of trouble. However, if such a modification was made ahead of the race then both Mark Webber and Vettel would have to start from the pit lane.

The slots in the Red Bull floor are designed to try and inject higher energy airflow into the gap between the tyres and diffusers – to try and overcome the airflow disruption caused by the rear tyre. This will help produce more rear downforce.

Michael Schumacher will commit himself to a contract extension in Formula 1 if he keeps producing performances like his Monaco qualifying effort, reckons his team boss Ross Brawn.

The seven-time champion delivered the fastest time in qualifying for F1's blue riband event on Saturday, but will start the Monaco Grand Prix from sixth on the grid thanks to a five-place grid penalty he earned for crashing into Bruno Senna in Spain a fortnight ago.

But despite the frustration of not being able to capitalise on his Q3 effort, Brawn thinks that Schumacher's performance was enough to leave the seven-time champion sufficiently confident about his form to want to carry on in F1 beyond the end of this season.

When asked if it was the team's wish for Schumacher to continue in 2013, Brawn said: "I think it will be everybody's wish after this performance. That is what we have always said - that Michael will always know when it is time to retire, and after producing performances like here, why should he?

"Let's now hope for a great race. It is great for Norbert [Haug], myself and the team, and everybody around Michael, and it is great for F1 as well if he can continue doing what he did here."

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug said recent frustrations for Schumacher in the races had not led to any questions within the team about his potential – despite his comeback that not delivering all that was expected.

"I think Michael handled it quite well all the time and, seriously speaking, from inside the team I never got the impression that he was frustrated or down. He knows what he can do and he thinks that: 'if the car is right I am going to deliver,'" said Haug.

"I am not sure whether he got an extra boost after his five-place penalty, but one thing is for sure, he did an amazing second sector and that is probably the most difficult part of the circuit. He delivered, he felt good in the car and he deserved it."

He added: "For Michael, it never was a problem and it is not like now he thinks he showed the world. Ross and I and the whole team always were convinced that he was a good driver and that he could do it.

"That he needed to learn after such a period of time was very clear, but he learned and he showed commitment. He has talent, he is capable and the speed is there as it has always been."

Mercedes is confident that it is on top of the tyres for the Monaco Grand Prix - despite the degradation problems it suffered in last year's race.

With Nico Rosberg starting on the front row, and Michael Schumacher the quickest car in qualifying, the W03 appears to be well-suited to the tight Monaco track.

However, with memories of last year - where both drivers suffered significant tyre degradation in the race – still fresh in the team's mind, Mercedes feels it is better prepared heading into Sunday afternoon's event.

Rosberg said: "We have definitely prepared well for the race, and made several set-up things to be in better shape and take care of the tyres better than we did last year. That is why I feel much more comfortable approaching the race."

Schumacher added: "We have seen our car this year and we had some up and downs in the early part of the year until we understood how to deal with the circumstances. But now we know what is required here so it should be good."

Team principal Ross Brawn said he was optimistic the team understood the tyre situation far better than it did 12 months ago.

"There are no guarantees for sure and the whole team are aware of the possibility," he said of the potential for tyre issues. "We have improved some of the technology we use to try and judge where we are with the tyres during the race, and the drivers are far more aware of it.

"We will drive the race pace, and the pace of our cars in the race will be what we feel the tyres can handle. Whether it is quick enough we will wait and see, but we don't want the situation we had last year where, after six or eight laps, we had destroyed the rear tyres.

"We are much better at managing it, but whether we are good enough we will find out [on Sunday]. But we are in a better position than we were last year."

Williams can still make the most of the speed of its car to deliver a strong points finish in the Monaco Grand Prix, despite its disappointing qualifying performance.

That is the view of its engineering chief Mark Gillan, who thinks it vital the team is switched on with its strategy so it can make progress up the order.

"From our side it is quite clear, we need to make things happen now," he explained, with Bruno Senna starting 13th and Pastor Maldonado on the last row of the grid.

"From that position for both drivers, and obviously Bruno is in a much better position than Pastor, we need to make things happen.

"The pace of the car is good, we just didn't capitalise on it. So it was a really disappointing job for the team that we ended up not doing a particularly good job all around, given the pace of the car. The car was good enough for a top four place in qualifying and we obviously didn't achieve that."

With overtaking notoriously difficult at Monaco, Gillan concedes it will not be easy to move up the field, but he remains upbeat that the Williams has the pace to do it.

"Obviously Monaco is difficult [for overtaking], but mind you Barcelona was difficult and [Lewis] Hamilton did a very good job of it at the last race. At this race literally anything can happen, and the weather can still a play a part in it as well.

"From our side we know the car pace is there, we know it is good enough to be finishing in the points and we just have to see what we can do strategy wise. We had a good strategy at the last race, and we just have to capitalise on it."

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is adamant that his squad has not dropped off the pace, but is just losing out in Formula 1's tyre lottery at present.

The Woking squad appeared to be 2012's benchmark as it opened the year with two straight poles for Lewis Hamilton and a Melbourne win for Jenson Button. But it has not managed a podium finish since China, and its drivers are now down to third and fifth in the championship standings after spells in the points lead.

Whitmarsh denied that McLaren has gone into a slump, saying it was impossible for any team to stay at the front consistently in such an up-and-down year - as Monaco qualifying proved.

"It's an extraordinary season," he said. "I didn't think even at the start of Q3 that Michael [schumacher] was going to come out with a time like that and Lotus have looked good here, I thought, and Lewis was in front of the two of them."

"We think that we've got to keep working. This year's championship is very unusual and is undeniably going to continue to be a fight to develop the car and to understand and work with these tyres. If you get it right, you've got a huge performance uplift."

He suggested that even teams achieving good results remained baffled by tyre performance this year.

"I think in truth, if you look back at a number of the almost surprise quick guys, if they're really honest they're not sure why they were quick at the moment they were quick," said Whitmarsh.

The McLaren chief said he was convinced there was nothing wrong with the team's current package that would prevent it winning on days when it mastered the tyres better than its rivals.

"I think we've got a competitive car. We haven't always got the best out of it," said Whitmarsh.

"We've got two great racing drivers, so it's going to be a fight for the whole year. There are moments of frustration and moments of elation, and that's how a world championship should be.

"Of course we'd all like to understand everything, to be improving the car and to understand the tyres every time you go out. Evidently it's not like that for us. It's not like that for anyone. That's the real challenge.

"These tyres seem almost organic, non-linear, and very difficult and very complex. We don't have as good an understanding of them as we should do and as we'd like to have, but I don't think there's anyone out there at the moment - any team, any driver, any engineer - who feels they've got it nailed on the tyre front."

Ex-Formula 1 team boss Flavio Briatore believes the 2012 season's unpredictability is a good thing - provided grand prix racing's credibility does not suffer if fans think the best drivers are being held back.

Each of the five grands prix so far this season has been won by a different driver and team, with victories shared between McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and Williams. While Lotus and Sauber have also challenged at the front.

The topsy-turvy form has been put down to teams' difficulties finding the 'sweet spot' with Pirelli's 2012 tyres.

Briatore, who ran the Benetton/Renault team during its title successes with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, but was banned from the sport after the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix scandal, said he saw nothing wrong with F1 2012's fluctuations. But he warned that F1 must ensure that drivers' talent did not become irrelevant - saying he was perturbed by Pastor Maldonado's defeat of Fernando Alonso in the Spanish Grand Prix.

"From a spectator's point of view the unpredictability of five races with five different winners is an exceptional show," Briatore told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"But we need to be careful that all this doesn't undermine the sport's credibility, because having [Pastor] Maldonado beating [Fernando] Alonso is something not very credible, for the fans too."

Briatore said the dominance of the tyres in deciding race form raised interesting questions for F1.

"That's something that should give food for thought to engineers that burn up huge budgets in simulators and windtunnels," he said. "It's money thrown out of the window when Pirelli comes in with a super job with the tyres: everything else doesn't count anymore."

He reckons Alonso is most likely to benefit if 2012 remains unpredictable.

"If the lottery continues, then the best is whoever has more tickets in his pocket, and that's Alonso," said Briatore. "He's leading the championship even with a car that isn't the strongest."

Edited May 27, 2012 by Linekles

[Adam]

Maldonado is right that the punishments are inconsistent...Hamilton getting demoted to last for a fuel irregularity doesn't seem right when Schumacher only got a 5 place penalty for pole-axing Senna in the race. But, Maldonado's clip on Perez probably caused his qualifying accident, so he can't have any complaints.

I want Webber to win today, and failing that Raikkonen so we can say that six drivers from six different teams won the first six races.

[LUKIE]

The difference between Hamilton's and the crashes, is that Hamilton's was a part of the rules guidelines, in that he didn't have the fuel, so he was automatically disqualified. The crashes are completely different, in that punishment is handed down from the stewards based on their severity. In all regards, Maldonado has every right to question his 10 place drop since it was far less dangerous then Schumacher's, which only resulted in 5, but the difference in that is that Maldonado's, from what I understand, was deemed malicious.

[Adam]

Very good point that Lukie, didn't really consider it that way.

Webber made a great start there, he shot off the line and was clear of Rosberg after only a few feet. Shame about Grosjean there.

[Gazz]

GROSJEAN!

Cursed him.

That could of been messy. Amazed everyone got through.

[LUKIE]

Grosjean

Comon Massa!

[Lineker]

at DC not knowing that guy was actually Ron Howard.

Terrific race so far. Pit stops and the possibility of rain can still change everything.

[Sam]

Boring race, I hate Monaco :/

[Lineker]

Monaco is incredible in person though.