Monaco Grand Prix Review 2009

The Monaco Grand Prix is one of two things… The most thrilling race you see all season or it’s as dull as dishwater. Unfortunately by lap 20 it was the latter. However there were a few things of note about the race.

Ferrari obviously have improved spectacularly. Making in the region of up to a second in 4 weeks. The sort of development speed we haven’t seen for a long time and probably not since Ferrari developed a new front wing for Nigel Mansell at Hungary in 1989 have we seen that much of a jump for one race. (Not withstanding the tyre war changes we once saw between Goodyear and Michelin). Kimi Raikonnen was the fastest in qualifying with a fuel adjusted time. Massa also took fastest lap in the race. Although Kimi took 3rd he was unlucky not to leap frog Barrichello at the first pit stops. Also he was several seconds a lap faster than Rubens before his first pit stop and was held up by him badly. If he hadn’t of lost 2nd to Rubens at the start or if he hadn’t of missed out on pole by 00.025 of a second (literally less than the blink of an eye) he could have been challenging or maybe getting the win. However this raw pace may have been because the Ferrari doesn’t rely so much on aero down force and more so on mechanical grip. Having said that the Red Bulls famed for their mechanical grip were not the force they have been in recent races. We will know for sure where Ferrari are when we get to Turkey in two weeks time on a conventional race track but I think Ferrari have possibly just made themselves outsiders for the championship. As apposed to the no hopers they were just 4 weeks ago.

As I mentioned briefly above Red Bull did not provide the goods this weekend and Vettel was decidedly off form. Pushing his Red Bull too hard and ruining the tyres and then loosing it into the tyre barrier. The whole weekend was most unlike Vettel or Red Bull for that matter and only a good drive from a poor car saw Webber produce a result.

Most noticeable was Rosberg. The man who always threatens to deliver actually almost delivered. He drove a stunning race in a car which was not that high up by any stretch of the imagination. Coming in 6th was respectable however his team mate chucking it off on the last lap was not. Why Nakajima did that I don’t know. Unsighted by the Ferrari of Kimi approaching? Tiredness or perhaps a moments loss of concentration by a radio transmission… We just don’t know. Either way he stuffed it embarrassingly.

The award for embarrassingly stuffing it however does not go to Nakajima or even Nelson Piquet this Grand Prix. I’m afraid it has to go to Lewis Hamilton. Who chucked it off in qualifying 1 when there was no need to whatsoever. It was clearly a driver error too; when you watch the on board he is way too confident in his ability and re applies the throttle as he slides off thinking he can catch it. To cap it all off not even his diamond encrusted number one on his helmet can make him go faster. After his accident he kept his helmet on and his body language made him appear so dejected… I wonder if he even shed a tear under his helmet. The most gutting thing though must have been knowing he was in with a shout at some good points.

Now if this wasn’t bad enough for Hamilton McLaren decided to put him on an impossible fuel load instead of starting him from the pits and fuelling him onto a one stop. What were they thinking? If they had to put him plumb last because of a gearbox change why not put him in the pits with all the benefits that entails… it’s a no brainer!

Now you’re probably thinking you haven’t mentioned the Brawns… The reason being they did everything perfectly. Especially Jenson Button who was Schumacher-esque in his pitch perfect drive. Smooth, fast, consistent as near perfect as he could be. It really was the drive of a champion and unless he gets beaten fair and square by someone in the next race I think it’s all over in terms of the championship unless major misfortune comes Jenson’s way.

The Turkish Grand Prix in two weeks time will make it apparent if were in for a long drawn out battle for the Championship. If Ferrari or Red Bull come back strong with their car developments they could take the championship fight to Button. My hunch is however that Jenson Button is a good enough driver to score consistently enough even if they do.