Steeped in a tradition of opulence and luxury, the Monaco Grand Prix is quite possibly the most anticipated event of the F1 season, attended by the uber-rich, regional royalty and entertainment industry superstars.
Race day is witnessed by beautiful people on the streets, in the stands and perched on balconies. The most exclusive spectators are splayed across the decks of yachts on the Cote d'Azur where the Mediterranean Sea sparkles like blue champagne in the sun—unless it's overcast with on again/off again rain.
The pre-race track was decidedly half-dry and half-wet, but rain did arrive by the start of the race. No automatic traction control and wet conditions on a street-circuit that has pretty much zero tolerance for error makes for an exciting race—the first wet race of the season.
Ferrari sat in positions one and two on the grid, with pole-sitter Felipe Massa still high from his huge win in Turkey. Not since 2001 has Ferrari secured pole position in Monaco. Kimi Raikkonen lost a position at the start to Louis Hamilton and never really recovered. As his tires weren't ready by regulation time before the start of the race, Raikkonen suffered a drive-through penalty.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Even after qualifying, it seemed to me that Raikkonen wasn't fully happy with the performance of his Ferrari, which might explain the uncharacteristic loss of control that sent him into Adrian Sutil who, while holding onto a strong fourth place, was taken out of the race by the reigning world champion.
It has been reported that Sutil will need grief counseling for life.
Pushing the limits while remaining on-track is what this race is all about. There have been some fairly dramatic crashes here, and limited run-off for the cars can turn even a small mistake into a very large problem for multiple drivers.
While roaming the grid for Speed TV, Peter Windsor spoke to Renault team leader Flavio Briatore, who summed up the Monaco Grand Prix vibe saying, "... the more danger we are, the more people love it."
And we are very danger indeed on the damp, oily, uneven supertwisty streets of Monte Carlo, the circuit where an overly cautious driver is referred to as a "grandma" or "old lady" within the teams.
Lewis Hamilton drove a brilliant race, taking first place for McLaren-Mercedes with no grandma moments. He now leads Kimi Raikkonen in the championship by three points. Robert Kubica took second for BMW Sauber and Felipe Massa managed to hold on for third place on the podium.
This race made me look forward to September for the new street-circuit night race in Singapore—yummy.
The next race (seen on FOX) takes place in Canada, June 8th. Montreal. Be there.
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5 months ago
Hey Cathy, good article but could have been about 2 weeks earlier, ha ha ... You post it on the day of the practice session for the next round of racing in Montreal ... So if posted closer to the end of the Monaco grand prix it would seem more relevant thus maybe generating some more feedback ? Sorry to be a tad negative but just thought I would throw my pennies worth in, good read though, more of the same soon I hope ?
5 months ago
i have to agre with ben here. bit late on this one, i expect your motreal article a few ours before qualifying for the french grand prix an magny cours.
on another note, i must say it was a good article.
5 months ago
Yeah yeah I know -- but better late than never, eh? Thanks for the feedback ...
4 months ago
Nice!!!
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