7th. round: Grand Prix of Monaco

Place		Grid	Race

1 2 3		Fernando Alonso Mark Webber (Q=3) Kimi Räikkönen (Q=4)	Fernando Alonso Juan Pablo Montoya David Coulthard
4 5 6 7 8		Juan Pablo Montoya (Q=6) Rubens Barrichello (Q=7) Jarno Trulli (Q=8) David Coulthard (Q=9) Nico Rosberg (Q=10)	Rubens Barrichello Michael Schumacher Giancarlo Fisichella Nick Heidfeld Ralf Schumacher
9 10		Giancarlo Fisichella (Q=5) Ralf Schumacher (Q=11)	Felipe Massa Vitantonio Liuzzi
11 12 13 14 15 16		Christian Klien (Q=12) Vitantonio Liuzzi (Q=13) Jenson Button (Q=14) Jacques Villeneuve (Q=15) Nick Heidfeld (Q=16) Christijan Albers (Q=17)	Jenson Button Christijan Albers Scott Speed Jacques Villeneuve Tiago Monteiro Franck Montagny
17 18 19 20 21 22		Tiago Monteiro (Q=18) Scott Speed (Q=19) Takuma Sato (Q=20) Franck Montagny (Q=21) Felipe Massa (Q=22) Michael Schumacher (Q=1)	Jarno Trulli Christian Klien Nico Rosberg Kimi Räikkönen Mark Webber Takuma Sato


		Pole: 1'13"962	Best Lap: 1'15"143
		motor change penalty	did not finish
		disciplinary penalty	out due to spin or accident
		drive-through penalty	car failure
	(Q=)	original qualifying place


		final 20' session (race fuel+tires)	Podium
		second 15' session (low fuel load)	Points
		first 15' session (low fuel load)	- no points - (from 8th down)

See this GP's history & stats at Wikipedia.

See here brief references to Gilles Villeneuve (1981) and Ayrton Senna (1984) at Monaco–memorable drives, these, not to be forgotten by anyone who had the privilege to watch these two extraordinary race drivers tame their then unwieldy cars through the narrow corners of the famous street circuit. It is worth pointing out that Senna holds both the record of victories (six) and the record of pole positions (five) at the Monaco track.

McLaren, celebrating 40 years, in Monaco, is the greatest winner at this famous street circuit: 13 wins, in all, versus only 8 from Ferrari and 7 from Lotus.

Following what by now is becoming a tradition for the Red Bull Team (actually starting with the Jaguar Team), they are once more promoting a new movie, at the Monaco GP. This year, the featured movie is Superman.

Ferrari is also on the spot, with a new overall design, their drivers now clad in red and yellow. Interestingly, besides the modern look it confers the drivers, the new overall should be quite pleasing to Michael Schumacher, as it is a step closer to the German flag colors (black-red-yellow). So, though most likely unintentionally, Ferrari grows a bit more German, now with the new racing overall.

Franck Montagny has now been confirmed with Super Aguri for the next two races (England and Canada). There also seems to be a chance that the Frenchman will be driving for the rookie Japanese Team also at Indianapolis, though this is yet to be confirmed.

Across the Atlantic, Rubens Barrichello and Tony Kanaan (Brazilian friend and 2004 Champion racing fellow at IRL, as well as partner at the Barrichello Kanaan Institute – reference in English) have swapped helmet colors for this grand prix and the Indianapolis 500 weekend. So, this weekend, at Monaco, Barrichello races in Kanaan's colors, whereas Kanaan will be contesting the Indy-500 in Barrichello's colors. Barrichello has said that this unusual swap was decided on, for this year's races at these two venues, on account of the very special status that the famous Monaco the Indy races enjoy.

Read on MieNet about a number of curious coincidences regarding both these much celebrated racing venues, Monaco and Indianapolis.

It is worth noting that these two racing events–the Monaco GP & the Indy-500, the former taking place since 1929, the latter since 1911–are traditionally scheduled for May–this year, both races are on the same day. A third prestigious and glamorous racing event, the 24 hours of Les Mans, takes place shortly after the other two. These three comprise the most renowned events in motor-racing, a sort of grand slam of motor racing, each conferring their winners a very special status.

Of the current F1 drivers, both Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve have won the prestigious Indy-500. Past F1 and Indy-500 Champions include racing legends Emerson Fittipaldi twice F1 Champion & twice Indy-500 winner, and one-time Indy-500 winners Mario Andretti (whose son Michael and grand-son Marco are both contesting the 2006 Indy-500), Jim Clark, as well as the first Mr. Monaco, Graham Hill, who won at Indy the year following Jim Clark's victory. Graham Hill, who won at Monaco five times, and at Indy in 1966, has made history for having also won at Le Mans in 1972! (As a constructor, McLaren has likewise won the motor racing grand slam.) Honda's current sporting director and 2000 & 2001 Champ Car champion, Gil de Ferran, has also made the Indy-500 hall of fame, having won the challenging Indy-500 race in 2003.

Giancarlo Fisichella, who had originally qualified at P5, was demoted to P10, as his three fastest laps in qualifying were taken away. The reason for the penalty was the Italian's having gotten in the way of David Coulthard, during qualifying. However, following Michael Schumacher's penalty (see right below), Fisichella actually climbed to P9. Curiously, in the European GP, the Italian was fuming over Jacques Villeneuve, for having incurred in a similar fault–the Canadian had been in Fisichella's way, during qualifying, and was given an equivalent penalty to the one Fisichella received, today.

Additionally, Michael Schumacher has been stripped of a controversially achieved pole position, the German Champion now starting the Monaco Grand Prix from P22, right beside team-mate Felipe Massa (P21), who had gone off and damaged the car nose, at the start of qualifying. So, oddly enough, both Ferrari cars are starting from the back of the grid, behind the two Super Aguris.

The FIA Stewards deemed that M.Schumacher's controversial off and subsequent halt, at the Rascasse, had been a deliberate move, to prevent his rivals from bettering his best time–Fernando Alonso looked all set to steal pole from the Ferrari driver, on that final lap; also Kimi Räikkönen, and possibly Mark Webber, too, were looking good to better Michael Schumacher's time, just as well–see

clip of Michael Schumacher 'running wide' and stopping. On that last qualifying lap, which he did not get to conclude, the German had put in the fastest first sector, but had not been as fast in the middle sector, thus having already dropped 0.190 behind the provisional pole time, which Alonso was about to improve, as the Ferrari driver reached the Swimming Pool. Immediately after, M.Schumacher surprisingly ran wide, thus motivating the yellow flags that made his rivals abort their flying laps, as well as motivating a heavy storm of controversy.

The German said that he had simply run wide as a result of pushing hard, in order to better his own provisional pole time. Ferrari, in turn, following the penalty, have lamented that with no real evidence, the stewards have simply assumed that Michael Schumacher was guilty. Ferrari further observed that today's penalty on Michael Schumacher could have created a very serious precedent in the sport, as the Stewards' decision ruled out the possibility of driver error (see full quote in F1 Quotes #6). Whether Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, or those who have though M.Schumacher's accident intentional and unsporting, are to be given full credit, what cannot be denied is that the great German Champion does carry a history of such controversies. This has most probably discouraged those initially willing to give M.Schumacher the benefit of the doubt, perhaps playing also a role in the FIA Stewards' ruling?

At any rate, except of course for those clad all in red, no one else on the paddock seemed ready to believe that a seven-time World Champion would have made a mistake that looked so rookie-like, as many put it–or, as Jacques Villeneuve commented, one that would have made even Yuji Ide feel embarrassed. The word on the paddock was that it was simply not possible to run wide at the famous low-speed Rascasse corner–one of the absolutely slowest corners in F1–as a result of one's pushing too hard. Michael Schumacher, nonetheless, continued insisting that he had just made a mistake. What is fact–fair or not–is that a strong unanimity had suddenly risen in fierce criticism of F1's most successful driver to date, and not only from those on the paddock, but also from the International press (most of the British press, for instance, was mercilessly critical of M.Schumacher). These were the facts, in this sad episode; please take your own view.

The press conference following qualifying was quite tense, the word cheat actually being used by a journalist, amid the many questions the German Champion had to face, most regarding that unexpected conclusion to the qualifying session. Fernando Alonso, visibly annoyed at having missed the pole in that way, merely said that he of course had an opinion on all that had just taken place, but would decline to express it. Meanwhile, Renault was reportedly getting busy to file a protest with the FIA.

At last, nearly eight hours after qualifying was over, official word came on Michael Schumacher's grid demotion; whereas Fisichella's penalty had been made official around five hours earlier. It is hard to imagine that the emergent time discrepancy regarding the announcement of both disciplinary measures could simply have been due to the greater severity of the penalty imposed on Michael Schumacher: deletion of all the times set by him in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, vs. deletion of just the three fastest times, for Fisichella. Whatever might have gone on, in parallel...we will probably never be told.

Sadly, in the aftermath of this entire issue, a man who will be remembered not only for having been seven-times World Champion, but also the all-time record holder, as overall points scorer, as Grand Prix winner, as pole-sitter, etc., etc., had to be once more faced with the term unsporting, along his otherwise brilliant career. This most obviously constitutes a record that Michael Schumacher would never have wished to his name, but one which, regrettably, he seems to have just as well invested on. Lamentably as it all may be, the great German Champion cannot avoid being remembered, as well, for having possibly been the F1 driver to have most often found himself associated with unsporting behaviour and related controversies, along his career. After all, outside of such unfortunate details, there can hardly be too many adjectives to describe Michael Schumacher's successful career. Thus, specially now that his F1 career is approaching its conclusion (whether slowly or swiftly), it is a real shame that a situation such as the one today, at Rascasse, had to serve as a reminder of the cloud of controversy and unsporting incidents that has now and then involved the seven-time World Champion, since his pre-F1 days.

What remains in memory, regarding a driver's career, are not simply numbers and related achievements. For example, F1 history includes drivers who did not even get to be champions, but who are nonetheless always remembered, respected, and cited among the greatest, such as Stirling Moss and Gilles Villeneuve.

Fernando Alonso's pole time (1'13"962) was of course slightly slower than the original pole time (1'13"898), the latter initially obtained by Michael Schumacher, though invalidated by the above-mentioned disciplinary penalty.

Today's last qualifying period seemed to indicate fairly clearly that two racing strategies are planned for the front runners. Both Renaults and both McLarens, as well as Mark Webber, should all be going for two stops. Michael Schumacher, who was also clearly in this group, will now most likely opt for a single stop, after finding out that, from what was going to be a pole start, he is actually starting from the other end of the grid. Will Fisichella also be switching from a two to a one stop strategy? (It seems unlikely. Probably he would have to start from the pit lane, to do so.) On what certainly looks like a one stop strategy–signaled by qualifying times a clear 1.2" (or more) behind the drivers at the very front of the grid–are Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli, David Coulthard, and Nico Rosberg. Let's wait for the race, and see how this really spans out.

In the aftermath of Michael Schumacher's penalty (see above), Ferrari actually decided to start him from the pit lane.

Christijan Albers picked a drive-through penalty for squeezing team-mate Tiago Monteiro into the pit wall–an avoidable accident, it was deemed. Ironically, this penalty represented a double punishment for the MF1 Team. Now, Yuji Ide is no longer on the grid...but there still seems to be some aggressive starting, among the back-runners (wasn't this one of the points that Albers, himself, complained about, after the frightful accident Ide rammed him into?).

Jacques Villeneuve was likewise given a penalty for overtaking behind the Safety Car.

Rubens Barrichello, too, picked a drive-through penalty–his, for speeding in the pit lane–the Brazilian thus missing on what had increasingly looked like his first podium in Honda colors. Curiously, Barrichello had a similar penalty, in last year's Monaco race. Though he has had very few penalties of this sort throughout his F1 career, it should be observed in name of fairness, this is actually Barrichello's second drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, in a Honda. Is the speed limiter something that the Brazilian still needs to get used to, in his new car (perhaps its less conspicuous location, as compared to the Ferrari car?), or was Barrichello's mind elsewhere, as he entered the pit these two times in 2006, or is there a glitch in his car, which the team should look into? Whatever the reason, it is a shame to lose points so unnecessarily, both for him and for the team.

It looks like Superman's blessings were beneficial to Red Bull: the Team achieved their first podium, ever, with David Coulthard, who looked at least curious in Superman's red cape, as the veteran driver climbed the steps that make up for the podium, in Monaco. In reality, this podium came firstly as courtesy of Rubens Barrichello's drive-through penalty, and then thanks to Jarno Trulli's retirement. But such is racing...one driver's loss reverts into another driver's gain.

Incidentally, what might be going on with Jenson Button?...who seems to be underperforming, while new team-mate Rubens Barrichello has been upping his game. In fact, today, the Brazilian had his best finish with the Honda Team; he has steadily been closing in on the Briton, in championship points.

At the closing of the Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher's fans celebrated that the seven-time World Champion had had a notable drive, from a pit lane start, to a fifth place finish; whereas those critical of the German remarked that he had managed to drive 78 times through that same Rascasse corner without trouble, albeit pushing very hard throughout the race, and even scoring the fastest race lap. If M.Schumacher might have wished that his strong performance at the Grand Prix would help convey more than just words could ever, after such a hellish weekend for him and Ferrari, it looks like he succeeded... As usual, when a viewpoint has been chosen, through which to observe something, there is hardly a chance we see different from what we are ready to see... (check related pages, on MieNet)

This was Fernando Alonso's first victory at the Monaco GP.

Red Bull's boss, Christian Horner, had promised to jump naked into Red Bull's motor home pool, if the team could conquer a maiden podium finish, at Monaco. After David Coulthard's indeed taking the team's first podium, Horner vowed he would honor his earlier promise, when asked about the words he had uttered at the start of the weekend, regarding what then looked like a far-fetched chance. Interestingly, that first Red Bull podium will have had two oposite meanings, as far as clothing is concerned: to Coulthard, it has meant being overly clad on the podium, wearing that Superman cape over his usual racing overall; whereas to Horner, if he indeed keeps his promise, it will have meant being highly under-clad, by the team's motor home pool.

See the 2006 Race Weekend Timetable

See Track & Lap Related Data

Follow all Practice, Qualifying & Race Sessions in real time on MieNet.

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