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Kimi Räikkönen took the pole position on the qualifying session of the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco .
The Finn set an astonishing last attempt in 1’12’’178, beating the previous track’s record realised by his team mate Sebastian Vettel (1’12’’395) on the morning.
The four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will start on the first row tomorrow with « Ice-Man ». He set the second fastest time of this qualifying session with less than one cents behind the other Ferrari driver. Valtteri Bottas was the only Mercedes driver capable to join the Q3 with the third fastest time of the day. The Finn missed the pole for a few thousandths.
The other silver arrow’s driver Lewis Hamilton struggled a lot during this qualifying session. The three-times world champion had to aborted his last attempt in Q2 because of Stoffel Vandoorne’s crash in the swimming-pool corner. He set the fourteenth fastest time this afternoon.
Vandoorne’s team mate Jenson Button realised the ninth fastest time of this qualifying for his come back on a Formula 1 car. On the French side, Romain Grosjean took the eight time after a spin at Mirabeau during the Q1. The other French Esteban Ocon failed to exit of the first qualifying part. He set the sixteenth time of the day.
Max Verstappen retired for his two first visit in the Principality. He really intends to finish the most prestigious race of calendar this year. The Dutch started well his week-end (3rd en FP1 and 6th in FP2) and he is relatively satisfied about his car’s performance after the free practice session.
« The balance of the car felt ok, says the young talent. We didn’t too many changes so we are pleased with our performance. We still need some small improvements which we will hopefully find overnight and be up there at the front tomorrow. »
Troubled by a red flag, the Red Bull driver had to abort his best attempt during the second free practice session. A problem who has not seriously disturbed the 2013 karting world champion already focus on the qualifying.
« I learnt from the last few years you don’t need to be quickest on Thursday, explains the Dutch. Here a small mistake means you are in the wall and the session is over. Qualifying is very important in Monaco because it is so hard to overtake. So we will work to be ready for qualifying. »
Monegasque’s resident from some years, Daniil Kvyat will play at home this week-end for the sixth event of the season. Relatively confident after scoring points for the second time this year at Barcelona, the Russian is looking forward to confronting himself with the most demanding track of the championship.
« The track is unique, says Daniil. I really like it. It’s all about your reflexes and reaction time. You just drive following your feelings and you have to find the right flow and rhythm in order to do well at this track. »
In three participation at the Monaco race, the Toro Rosso driver only experienced one finish when he was driving for Red Bull. Victim of its mechanic in 2014, the Russian had also to give up last year after a crash with the Renault of Magnussen.
« It’s true that I have disappointing results here, explains the former Red Bull driver. So this year I hope it should be a good one. My qualis have usually been quite decent in Monaco . In 2015 I had one of the best races of my career. I really want to put a good week-end together. »
What do you feel to come back here in Monaco ?
It’s great to be back, good to see so many faces I haven’t seen for six months. The preparation has been good apart from the fact that I haven’t obviously driven the car. I spent a lot of time in the simulator getting a feel for the new F1. I have to learn some small things but it’s still a racing car.
Monaco is probably the McLaren’s best chance of scoring some points. Do you feel pressure for the team?
Definitely not. I’m very relaxed, very excited. It’s interesting coming back for one Grand Prix. It being Monaco it’s very special. I’ve won here before, I’ve lived here for 17 years. But I don’t feel any pressure. I will obviously get in the car and I will do the best job I can for the team.
What can you expect this week-end?
The car seemed to be working well in Barcelona in qualifying. Fernando did a good job. I think it still proves that the car itself is working well. I drove the upgrade in the simulator. It was definitely an improvement. If it’s all straightforward this week-end, we should be reasonably competitive.
Charles Leclerc set the fastest time of the free practice session of the Formula 2. The Monegasque’s driver took the first position in 1’19’’722. The Prema Racing driver get ahead Sergio Canamasas (+0.139) and the British Oliver Rowland (+0.146). The Frenchman Norman Nato (+0.336) and the Thai Alexander Albon (+0.644) completed the top 5.
3 Questions to …
… Romain Grosjean
What is the Monaco Grand Prix like for you?
Monaco is special to me because it’s kind of my home race. We’re beside France and there’s always a lot of people, a lot of fans. It is, of course, special because all of glamour because its Monaco . Everyone knows Monaco and everyone wants to be in Monaco .
Monaco is obviously a cool place to visit, but how difficult is it to race there?
It’s pretty difficult to race there. In Monaco , you can’t make any mistakes or you’re straight into the wall. It’s hard to find the right limit of the car. You always have to drive underneath, unless you are in qualifying on a very fast lap. It goes very fast between the walls. It’s an exciting challenge.
The Monaco Grand Prix has been held since 1929. Is there a particular race that stands out for you?
I do remember Monaco in 1996 when Olivier Panis won. He was the last Frenchman to win a Grand Prix. It was a crazy race. Oliver started 14th and was one of only three cars to cross the finish. We love Monaco for this kind of races.
© Crédit photo : Jean-François Galeron
Valence and the Monte-Carlo Rally, a never ending love story…
For this 20th edition of Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, the Drome fans were not ready to miss the rendez-vous. They came out in numbers!
For the 4 pm CH, the Place du Champ de Mars was filled with visibly passionate fans, all of them ready to support the crews at the end of their second serious day of action on the roads.
(extracts of the Quotidien du Rallye n°5)
Find the reactions of the first three drivers of the classification and their co-drivers during the post event FIA Press Conference.
Sébastien, congratulations on this win – what a result. How do you feel?
SO: Obviously I feel really great. It was so many new things, but something is not new: we are here as winners of the Monte Carlo Rally – that’s something I never get bored with! We had one of the most difficult challenges, certainly for our generation of drivers, on this rally this year. And when you add on top of that, I joined M-Sport about a month ago and only had a couple of days in the car. When I came here I thought anything could happen – this is Monte, but I was missing some special preparation. To be here is a great surprise and I am very happy for the whole team. Really, I have to say a special congratulations; we could never win if they did not make a good car before we got here. Well done all the guys at M-Sport.
How’s the feeling in the Fiesta?
SO: It’s still a bit early to judge the performance of everyone, it’s very hard to see who’s making the big difference or to see any dominance from anybody. This is a good sign for the championship. I hope at the end of the day we are all there with similar performance, that’s good for the sport, but I also hope we continue in this way [winning]. I love Sweden, it’s a rally I have won a couple of times and I look forward to it. In the past, the Fiesta has always been strong in Sweden and there’s nothing I can see which won’t allow me to be confident for going to Sweden.
How tough were the conditions this morning?
SO: We had quite a good gap this morning and I was somehow confident. But in the first race with the new car everybody has had some tension. In the first stage this morning we discovered Ott had a problem and we were scared it could happen to us. I was really hoping he [Tänak] could make it to the end, he was really deserving to be there. The last stage was difficult, the others were nice and I could enjoy the driving. But the last pass of Turini was tricky – we started with the worst conditions and we knew there was no chance to fight for power stage points, so we decided to bring it home.
And what’s Malcolm like as a new boss?
SO: So far we had quite a great start, I’m sure this helps build any relationship. It’s been strange when we come back to Monte-Carlo to chill with everyone and congratulate people I almost don’t know yet! But I think this is the best way to start working together. I’m sure we’ll have more success together.
Julien, there were lots of changes before this rally. Did you believe you could come here to win?
JI: I was speaking to another journalist before and I said I had not known so many preparations and it’s actually quite contradictory for this rally. Normally you need to have the maximum preparations here in Monte-Carlo. You need to know everything on the car and with the team and for the changes of road conditions. We knew we had a team behind us pushing hard. We knew this could be a rally of the driver with a certain skill and he could make the difference. I wouldn’t have bet we couldn’t win this rally before the start.
This must be one of the toughest challenges of the year for the co-driver?
JI: Maybe you should ask this one to Martin [Järveoja] as he has had a real baptism of fire. I must say congratulations to him, he did a good job: bravo! I’m happy to have a Monte like this, but just once a year. It’s really tough to get the notes from the gravel crew and then give the notes [to the driver] at such high speed as this. As well, there is more information coming in the beginning, middle and end of the corner, it’s really tough. I’m not going to sing or do anything stupid; we’re in a British team now and we need to get smart and get reserved. We are British, especially when we had dinner in Malcolm’s house. Elaine – Mrs Wilson – was on my side and she told me: “We go on our holidays the week following the rally…” Very nicely, she was giving us the order: make my man happy for the holiday. So we won!
Jari-Matti, you must be delighted with your first event and first podium with Toyota?
J-ML: This is a fantastic result. It was Finland last year, that was the last time I was on the podium. The end of last year was very difficult. But this new team brought a lot of motivation for me. I came here with the target of a top six and with no mistakes and a consistent run, but we could see early the car has good potential. Of course, we were a bit lucky, but this is Monte- Carlo and I couldn’t ask for more than second. I am so glad and happy, the boys built this car in Finland – rally cars can be built in Finland!
What are your thoughts on the Yaris, is it better than you expected?
J-ML: Yeah, absolutely. I got more and more comfortable in the car as the rally was going. Most of my testing had been done on dry Tarmac with only one day of winter conditions. Coming like that to this event, I was a little bit concerned. I wasn’t so confident with the car, but over the weekend I built the confidence and I have to say the car was working really well. We had to pull the car from Parc Fermé on Friday, which was a bit exciting. On Wednesday, still things were everywhere and the boys were still assembling my gearbox 30 minutes before shakedown. But it was ready, and I can’t imagine they work so hard and make the car perform like this.
What are your thoughts about Sweden?
J-ML: That’s a great rally. I have tested the car on snow and it feels really good, but I don’t know exactly how it will be on the snow there. The car has a lot of potential, so we go out there and see what will happen. We are all really motivated and looking forward to the next races.
Miikka what about atmosphere in the team?
MA: When we started with the team we felt it was one of the most motivated teams, it has been the same at our previous teams, but when we are a Finnish team as a Finnish crew, for sure it feels good. So far there are the correct people in the correct positions.
Ott you had a few dramas, but you held on to the podium. How does that feel?
OT: It’s nice to be here. Always, everybody knows Monte is tricky, but this it added a bit of extra spice for us. Maybe there was a bit more stress in the last few hours. We were lucky with the tyres, the snow helped us with some very tricky conditions. We were down on power, but it didn’t make much difference. We just had to be a bit more brave coming down the hill.
But you had good pace throughout the weekend…
OT: I was quite surprised about that. Normally I don’t enjoy the changing conditions, but I can say I felt quite comfortable in the car even from shakedown. We have a good base car and quite a bit to improve, but we are going in the right direction. We had consistent speed. From the other side, this was the first rally for Martin and like Seb said, it was one of the trickiest and for sure the trickiest for me. To come out with these new cars, which are quite fast, and have to give so much more information and so much quicker, he did a really great job. He did his job so I was able to concentrate on doing mine.
What was the problem today?
OT: We were missing a cylinder, so we were a bit down on power, but we are not going to let this kind of issue stop us. I was able to do a little bit of help myself. These are small details. We got the points and now we keep working towards Sweden.
Martin, this was a baptism of fire, how are you feeling?
JM: Before shakedown I was a bit nervous. After the first stage there was no time to be nervous, the road section and schedule was so tight…
Did you enjoy it?
MJ: For sure, it was enjoyable to drive fast in those conditions.
Did you think you might not make it to the finish?
MJ: Today, at the start of the first stage, we thought the podium was finished. It was a bit stressful, but we did it.
