Monaco 2010
TWO FACTORS DOMINATED THIS RACE - MARK WEBBER AND SAFETY CARS! MARK STORMED TO POLE POSITION ON SATURDAY - A PRE-REQUISITE FOR THE BEST START AT A TRACK ON WHICH OVER-TAKING IS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT THAN ANY OTHER.
NOT QUITE A RED BULL LOCK-OUT BECAUSE ROBERT KUBICA SPLIT THE TWO RED BULL CARS BUT MARK GOT THE BEST START ON SUNDAY AND SEBASTIEN VETTEL MANAGED TO GET AHEAD OF ROBERT BEFORE TURN 1 AND THAT'S HOW THE FRONT THREE STAYED THROUGHOUT THE RACE.
SOUNDS LIKE AN UNEVENTFUL RACE THEN! NOT A BIT OF IT, THIS IS MONACO. FERNANDO ALONSO HAD WRITTEN OFF HIS FERRARI IN PRACTICE, TOOK NO PART IN QUALIFYING AND THUS STARTED FROM THE PIT-LANE. THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE SAFETY CAR ON LAP 1, AFTER NICO HULKENBERG HAD INEXPLICABLY CRASHED IN THE TUNNEL, PLAYED RIGHT INTO FERNANDO'S HANDS. HE WAS ABLE TO CHANGE HIS TYRES UNDER THE SAFETY CAR, FROM THE OPTIONS TO THE PRIMES, AND REJOIN THE BACK OF THE FIELD AND THUS DID NOT NEED TO STOP AGAIN. EFFECTIVELY, HIS STRATEGY WAS A NO-STOP STRATEGY!
THE SAFETY CAR DID JENSON BUTTON NO FAVOURS DUE TO HIS ENGINE OVER-HEATING BECAUSE SOMEONE HAD FAILED TO REMOVE A VENT COVER ON THE GRID - HAD THE RACE PROCEEDED AT NORMAL SPEED, THE FAST AIRFLOW MAY HAVE COOLED THE ENGINE BUT AT SAFETY CAR SPEEDS THIS DID NOT HAPPEN. LAST YEAR'S WINNER WAS OUT BEFORE THE RACE GOT GOING.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO CAUSED THE NEXT APPEARANCE OF THE SAFETY CAR WHEN AN APPARENT SUSPENSION FAILURE THREW HIM INTO THE BARRIERS. MARK WEBBER HAD ALREADY LOST A FEW SECONDS LEAD IN THE FIRST INCIDENT AS THE CARS ALL BUNCHED UP BEHIND HIM. NOW HE LOST A 10-SECOND LEAD FOR THE SAME REASON.
AND NOT MUCH LATER, HE HAD TO REBUILD A LEAD AGAIN AFTER THE THIRD SAFETY CAR APPEARANCE - THIS TIME BECAUSE OF A LOOSE MAN-HOLE COVER! BY THIS TIME, FERNANDO HAD WORKED HIS WAY UP TO 6TH, NOT BECAUSE OF MANY OVERTAKES (WE ONLY SAW TWO OR THREE) BUT BECAUSE OF HIS ENFORCED NO-STOP STRATEGY!
THE RACE CONTINUED TO LAP 74, OUT OF 78, WHEN THE FOURTH SAFETY CAR PUT IN AN APPEARANCE. JARNO TRULLI HAD MADE A DART UP THE INSIDE OF KARUN CHANDHOK AT THE FINAL CORNER, GOT COMPLETELY LEVEL BUT KARUN EITHER DID NOT SEE HIM OR UNDER-ESTIMATED HOW MUCH ROOM TO LEAVE JARNO. JARNO'S CAR LITERALLY CLIMBED OVER KARUN'S AND THAT WAS THAT.
THERE THEN FOLLOWED ONE OF THOSE INCIDENTS THAT CAUSE MUCH DEBATE. THE NEW SAFETY CAR RULE FOR 2010 CHANGED THE POINT AT WHICH FOLLOWING CARS COULD OVERTAKE THE LEADING CAR FROM THE START/FINISH LINE TO THE FIRST SAFETY CAR LINE, WHICH IS POSITIONED AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE PIT-LANE. BECAUSE THE SAFETY CAR WAS STILL OUT AT THE START OF THE LAST LAP, DURING WHICH EVERYONE WAS ADVISED THAT IT WOULD COME IN AT THE END OF THE LAP, MANY PEOPLE ASSUMED THAT OVERTAKING COULD OCCUR AS USUAL IN THAT SCENARIO.
PRINCIPLE AMONGST THESE WERE MERCEDES AND MICHAEL SCHUMACHER AND MICHAEL OPTED TO OVERTAKE FERNANDO ALONSO AT THE LAST CORNER AND SO CLAIMED 6TH PLACE. HOWEVER, RACE CONTROL IMMEDIATELY INDICATED THAT THIS INCIDENT WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION AND THUS THE DEBATE STARTED! IRONICALLY, THE RACE-DRIVER ON STEWARD DUTIES IN MONACO WAS SCHUMACHER'S OLD RIVAL, DAMON HILL, AND THEY HAVE HISTORY AS ALL THE WORLD KNOWS. EQUALLY, ALL THE WORLD KNOWS THAT YOU COULD NOT IMAGINE DAMON AS BEING ANYTHING BUT EVEN-HANDED, BEING THE SPORTSMAN HE IS.
IT TOOK THREE HOURS FOR THE MATTER TO BE RESOLVED AND, AS THE FOLLOWING EXTRACT FROM THE F.I.A. SPORTING REGULATIONS SHOWS, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A MATTER OF MINUTES NOT HOURS TO REACH A DECISION - '40.13 If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking.' SIMPLE AND STRAIGHT-FORWARD. AS MERCEDES HAVE STATED THAT THEY WILL APPEAL, ONE CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT THE DELAY WAS ABOUT SCHUMACHER'S 20-SECOND PENALTY BECAUSE THE RULE IS SURELY NOT CAPABLE OF MISINTERPRETATION.
SO A 1-2 FOR RED BULL, THE TWO DRIVERS TAKE OVER THE LEAD AT THE TOP THE DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP (ALTHOUGH BEING TIED ON POINTS, MARK LEADS BY VIRTUE OF TWO WINS TO SEBASTIAN'S ONE) AND RED BULL HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD IN THE CONSTRUCTORS TITLE RACE. NOT A BAD DAYS WORK!
STARTING GRID
| | | |
| 1.
|
Mark Webber
|
| 2.
|
Robert Kubica
|
| 3.
|
Sebastian Vettel
|
| 4.
|
Felipe Massa
|
| 5.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 6.
|
Nico Rosberg
|
| 7.
|
Michael Schumacher
|
| 8.
|
Jenson Button
|
| 9.
|
Rubens Barrichello
|
| 10.
|
Vitantonio Liuzzi
|
| 11.
|
Nico Hulkenberg
|
| 12.
|
Aidrian Sutil
|
| 13.
|
Sebastien Buemi
|
| 14.
|
Vitaly Petrov
|
| 15.
|
Pedro de la Rosa
|
| 16.
|
Kamui Kobayashi
|
| 17.
|
Jaime Alguersari
|
| 18.
|
Heikki Kovalainen
|
| 19.
|
Jarno Trulli
|
| 20.
|
Timo Glock
|
| 21.
|
Lucas di Grassi
|
| 22.
|
Bruno Senna
|
| 23.
|
Karun Chandhok
|
| 24.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
RESULT
| |
| 1.
|
Mark Webber
|
| 2.
|
Sebastian Vettel
|
| 3.
|
Robert Kubica
|
| 4.
|
Felipe Massa
|
| 5.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 6.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
| 7.
|
Nico Rosberg
|
| 8.
|
Aidrian Sutil
|
| 9.
|
Vitantonio Liuzzi
|
| 10.
|
Sebastien Buemi
|
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers :
| |
| Mark Webber
|
78
|
| =Sebastian Vettel
|
78
|
| Fernando Alonso
|
75
|
| Jenson Button
|
70
|
| Felipe Massa
|
61
|
| Robert Kubica
|
59
|
| =Lewis Hamilton
|
59
|
| Nico Rosberg
|
56
|
| Michael Schumacher
|
22
|
| Adrian Sutil
|
20
|
Constructors :
|
| Red Bull Racing
|
156
|
| Ferrari
|
136
|
| McLaren
|
129
|
| Mercedes
|
78
|
| Renault
|
65
|
| Force India
|
30
|
| Williams
|
8
|
| Scuderia Toro Rosso
|
4
|
| BMW Sauber
|
0
|
| Lotus
|
0
|
| Hispania Racing
|
0
|
| Virgin Racing
|
0
|
Race Results posted by
David Little
17th May 2010
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