Webber beats Kubica to pole position (Monaco Grand Prix qualifying)

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Mark Webber claimed the coveted Monaco Grand Prix pole position

Mark Webber starts from pole position for the second race in a row.

He beat Robert Kubica by almost three tenths of a second to take pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Webber’s team mate Sebastian Vettel starts third alongside Felipe Massa’s Ferrari.

Q1

With Fernando Alonso not starting qualifying following his practice crash he was certain to be one of the seven cars eliminated in Q1.

Robert Kubica was the quickest driver to begin with but as he slowed to create space for his next lap a Sauber went past him – spoiling his next effort.

Although all the drivers were having to find space for themselves in traffic, the session did not provide the opportunity for the new teams some had expected.

Lotus had not used any super soft tyres in final practice, saving everything they had. Heikki Kovalainen was clearly giving maximum effort as well, spinning twice in his attempts to reach the final 17.

But it was to no avail – he ended the session nine-tenths of a second behind Kamui Kobayashi.

Q2

Once again Kubica started the session quickest, edging Nico Rosberg by two tenths of a second.

Massa and Rosberg took it in turns to beat Kubica’s time, but he was never in any danger of failing to make it into Q3.

Team mate Vitaly Petrov, however, was eliminated when his attempt to set a top ten time ended in the barriers at Sainte Devote.

Jenson Button looked vulnerable for a while before a late improvement moved him up to ninth. But he was sixth tenths of a second slower than his team mate, who ended the session fourth.

There were no major surprises among the bottom seven except at Force India, where Vitantonio Liuzzi beat Adrian Sutil in qualifying for the first time this year.

Q3

Different tactics were in use as the final part of qualifying began. McLaren sent their drivers out for one long run with a series of flying laps. Kubica did two runs in the Renault and looked a strong candidate for pole position to begin with.

But Webber pipped Kubica with his first flying effort, then found an even greater margin on his final run, comfortably taking pole position. Team mate Vettel was third, four tenths of a second of his team mate’s pace.

Lewis Hamilton emerged ahead in a tightly-fought battle between the McLarens and Mercedes. Team mate Button was unhappy after being held up by Massa on one of his better runs.

Pos.#DriverCarQ1

Q2

Q3
16Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’15.0351’14.4621’13.826
211Robert KubicaRenault1’15.0451’14.5491’14.120
35Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’15.1101’14.5681’14.227
47Felipe MassaFerrari1’14.7571’14.4051’14.283
52Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’15.6761’14.5271’14.432
64Nico RosbergMercedes1’15.1881’14.3751’14.544
73Michael SchumacherMercedes1’15.6491’14.6911’14.590
81Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’15.6231’15.1501’14.637
99Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’15.5901’15.0831’14.901
1015Vitantonio LiuzziForce India-Mercedes1’15.3971’15.0611’15.170
1110Nico HulkenbergWilliams-Cosworth1’16.0301’15.317
1214Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’15.4451’15.318
1316Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’15.9611’15.413
1412Vitaly PetrovRenault1’15.4821’15.576
1522Pedro de la RosaSauber-Ferrari1’15.9081’15.692
1623Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’16.1751’15.992
1717Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’16.0211’16.176
1819Heikki KovalainenLotus-Cosworth1’17.094
1918Jarno TrulliLotus-Cosworth1’17.134
2024Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’17.377
2125Lucas di GrassiVirgin-Cosworth1’17.864
2221Bruno SennaHRT-Cosworth1’18.509
2320Karun ChandhokHRT-Cosworth1’19.559
248Fernando AlonsoFerrari

2010 Monaco Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    187 comments on “Webber beats Kubica to pole position (Monaco Grand Prix qualifying)”

    1. Great Qualy! Kubica was unbelievably good. Penalty to come for Massa surely.

      Hope the director is better tomorrow, we hardly saw any Qualy laps just constant footage of Alonso in the garage.

      1. Yup. Saw more of Alonso’s face than a good qualifying lap. Bad coverage. Steve Slater doesn’t help at all….

        1. Sush Meerkat
          15th May 2010, 14:36

          Today’s coverage felt tacky, I half expected Ant and Dec to pop up and start interviewing random people.

          BBC sort it out, your not ITV and F1 is not a talent contest run by Simon Cowel.

          1. Well the Alonso faces were done by the director in Monaco not by BBC.
            I would have rather seen the annoying slow motion replays than watching Alonso frown.

            1. Sush Meerkat
              15th May 2010, 14:48

              Alonso sullenly walks into a bar, the barman goes “Alonso why the long face?”
              “I have a long face” replies Alonso.

              This would be a good time to tell you guys I’m an Alonso fan.

            2. I’ve often wondered why is it that the BBC don’t have a director for their feed? I mean surely all the cameras around the tracks are filming all the time so have a little motorhome where the BBC guys can pick what they want to show (and what Martin Brundle wants to talk about). Surely a whole lot of the world (I’m in Australia) gets the BBC feed so they’re worthy of their own director.

            3. I think all the broadcasters around the world get the same feed from FOM that’s already cut. They don’t have access to individual feeds from all cameras. Pretty much the only control they have over their own broadcast is their ability to replay footage that they’ve already received through the feed. Other than that it’s up to FOM.

          2. Those [team name]’s Qualifying got on my nerves, I just walked out after I saw they were doing more of them :P

        2. i hooked up my computer to the stereo and streamed the BBC 5Live commentary from their website. Near-perfect sync with the pictures from Star Sports. so goodbye Slater, hello Crofty + Ant!!

          1. Quite the same case over here, though getting to know the times and positions a bit before actually seeing them took quite a bit off the excitement. Wish the commentary across the channels was a bit standardised like it is for MotoGP.

      2. massa shouldn receive a penalty just because he held button its wasnt important it was only the 1st lap of his run if he gets penalised we can assure that f1 is completlty run by brits

        1. Massa drives for Ferrari ..they never get penalty

        2. Massa absolutely should get a penalty.

          He broke the rules.

          But more than that he’s the whiniest little bitch when anyone else gets in his way, and he is one of the worst culprits himself.

      3. i agree with rosberg he had the pace to do the pole ashame that there isnt any more team splitting the red bulls congrats to kub anyway

        1. We didn’t even get to see any of the pole setters lap!!!

          1. You’ll get to see it tomorrow before the race. Well at least in the US, I know SPEED always gives you a guide to the track before the race by showing the pole sitter’s quali lap. Not sure if that’s common to all broadcasts.

    2. Insanely amazing result for Kubica with this car.
      Great drive.

      1. I agree completely :) Kubica really showed what he’s capable of. That Renault is definetly not a P2 car, but here the driver is a bit more important. That’s why I’m also a bit surprised to see Vetter behind Webber!

    3. Congrats Mark, You just won Monaco!

      1. oh yeah? you forget it’s Monaco. Fernando forgot and voila.

      2. Way to go mate, Mark is really getting to Vettel right now. Its 3:3 with poles between them, but Mark has the last three of them.

        With Kubica in between it won’t be easy for Vettel to have a try at Mark in the first corner.

        I hope to see a lot of nice moves between the new teams and Alonso as well. Heikki looked really fired up, only Kubica came close to that.

        1. Nope. Webber only has 2 in a row, his other pole was Malaysia. Vettel had pole in China.

    4. Dissapointed with McLaren, but at least Alonso crashed out.

      1. Button is going to have yet another race behind Schumacher. :D

        1. LOL
          I love it too :)

        2. Maybe it will force him to do something different, changing tyres early or maybe try conserving them and going for a much longer stint?

          If Barcelona is hard for passing Michael, Monaco must be impossible, but who knows, we might be suprised.

          1. Well, theoretically Schumacher would be going as fast as he could (within reason for conserving tyres), so Button can just sit behind him, wait for him to pit, do a good in-lap himself and hopefully come out.

            1. Of course there is the probability that Schu gets a good outlap while Button gets hindered by traffic during the in-lap, so don’t suppose pitting later or for that matter earlier would help, it all depends on the traffic, that’s what’s so good (or bad) about Monaco.

      2. Do you want to see a race or do you just want your man crush to do laps fanboy? Its okay to root for your guy but if there is no race then it really isn’t anything to be happy about. Incidents can happen to anybody here. Remember when Hamilton (last year?) went off before the hairpin… it didn’t look like he did anything wrong, just bad luck. I’d rather the drivers I respect beat him however than have him beat himself.

    5. Onboard lap from KUB will be great, this man is really doing maximum!

    6. Hope, massa doesn’t get a penalty. but just a warning.

      He and Kubika are the only 2 people likely to challenge Red Bulls.

      1. And maybe Hamilton should challenge them too.

        1. The McLarens are definately stronger on race pace, but look to be suffering quite badly on the option tyres if practise is anything to go by. If the soft tyres do prove a problem in the race then I think Kubica is looking the strongest.

    7. Great job from Webber and Kubica. Garbage TV coverage. How did we not see a single corner of Webber’s two flying laps??

      1. But instead we saw Alonso’s face for most of the session…was the TV director a fan or what?

        1. A shame they did not ask Alonso to make faces, it would have been more interesting that this.

          A shame about the session, it could have been great if we had actually seen that lap.

    8. Gratulations For Webber. But The Kubica was flawless!!!!
      GOGO Kubica

    9. Excellent for Webber. That Vettel needs all the humbling he’s getting.

      Kubica is FIYAH!!!!!!

      1. I agree J. I used to like Vettel but now I think he’s an arrogant little punk. He’s either sulking when things don’t go his way or gloating when they do. You would think he had already won more championships than Schumacher. He needs to pull his head in and stop listening to all the hype, he hasn’t really achieved anything in the sport yet.

        1. Humbling? He is still the better of the Red Bulls. It´s just his third (?) season and runs all over Webbo, just like last year. The guy is good, unlike Webbo. Give him a break…

    10. Why the Red Bulls never trouble free practices, look ok in Q1/Q2, only to storm up in Q3? Surely, this is more than just sandbagging. If it was sandbaging, why do they consistently do it? What is there to gain?

      I think it is because they do not want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves in the free practices and early quali’s due to their “magic trick” suspension. A clear change is then made in Q3 which catapults them up the timing board. This way, they always take everyone by surprise, and their competitors are basically stunned into confusion.

      1. yeah, they arrived to grab P1 and P3 just like that. THey dominate every Q and they run same renault engine as Renault team. Very strange to say the least.

        1. I’m such a hypocrite. If Vettel had stolen pole the way Webber did i’d been screaming bloody murder at their ability to pop out of nowhere…. But Webber got pole so i’m happy :D

          Having said that I’d love for McLaren to have some magical stroke of genius that pops onto their car whatever RBR have on theirs then come Turkey Q3, oh would you look at that! :)

    11. Goddamn it, Webber has ruined my quali prediction two races in a row now :(

      1. Same here. How he has suddenly found more qualifying pace than Vettel is beyond me!!

        1. When the going gets tough, the tough ( and talented) get going!

        2. Because Vettels arrogance has pi$$sed Webber off thats how. Webber is a better driver than Vettel, he just needed to get angry……and now he’s angry.

          1. I think a 100% on form Webber is better than a 100% on form Vettel. Difference is that up till now, Vettel has been the one that can maintain his form more consistantly.

            1. I agree webber is a better driver than Vettel but I disagree about Vettel having more consistant form. The only consistant thing with Vettel was that he was consistantly given the better fuel strategy last season which put Webber behind from the start. This year, they all carry the same fuel so its in the drivers hands as the teams have to give the ideal pit strategy to the driver in the lead.

    12. What the heck was Massa thinking?! He ought to be losing some grid spots for sure.

      1. The stewards haven’t said anything about that incident with Button, have they?

        1. no….and i,m no surprise….NOW that Jean Todt is leading FIA ..Ferrari driver’s will never be punish…example of that is Alonso bloking Schumacher in OZ and last race in Spain when Alonso cut Rosberg in the pit and almost hit him and destroy both car and Ferrari get only 20.000 USD or EUR and Alonso not even mentioned after, in contrast of that hamilton and vetel far Le’s serious accident ended with huge hip and almost penalties for nothing

          1. Seriously? Todt would get so much stick if he did favour Ferrari and this isn’t down to Jean, it’s up to the Stewards one of whom is Damon Hill.
            There have been barely any pentalities this year just reprimands including Vet being dangerous in the pitlane at China.

    13. Congratulations for Robert Kubica !!! P1 tomorrow at the end of the race

    14. I don’t understand why the camera was on Alonso the entire time.

    15. Amazing driving for Kubica, never saw Webber coming, jumped to pole out of nowhere.
      Rosberg was “upset”, he was better than Schumi bud did not even improve on his Q2 time. So he might have been in front of Massa.
      Nice to see him doing the mind trick things on Schumi! Schumi hitting back with Nico “holding him up” in Q3.

      Schumi did not expect Mark doing better than Vettel.

    16. Can’t wait to see Webber’s flying lap on board video and weigh it against Trulli’s 04 lap. .3 up, you blue beauty !

    17. Polishboy808
      15th May 2010, 14:26

      Hamilton Has no chance to attempt an attack. Fantastic job by kubica and webber, very impresive times. I hope webber doesn’t take out kubica or vice versa.

    18. If Massa’s penalised for that incident with Button then I think Hamilton will move up a spot and put in a good fight to get on the podium. I sure hope so.

      1. Actually, I am not sure if Hamilton would want Massa to get a penalty. If Massa gets one, Hamilton moves to the dirty side of the grid, I am not sure he wants that.

        1. We’ll just have to wait and see.

    19. Great effort from Webber but dont expect to see Horner looking pleased after his pride and joy was out-driven again.Another improved effort from RK and Renault who are doing a lot better than the pundits predicted at the start of the year. I expected Rosberg to put it on pole after good Q2, maybe he is keeping it for tomorrow when it really counts.

      1. You mean Rosberg is pacing himself in Monaco qualy to get a better place in the actual race?

      2. “dont expect to see Horner looking pleased after his pride and joy was out-driven again”

        Yeah, what the hell was that all about… in the post quali interview he really was quite a bit of a ****. Webber did a fantastic job, the Red Bulls were split by .4 of a second and a Renault and all he could talk about was it being down to the strength of the car.

        Nothing against Vettel, I really like him, but Horner should at least pretend to be impartial, especially after Webber’s obvious consecutive asskicking.

        I hope we have yet another winner tomorrow, preferably Kubica, but Webber winning Monaco would be really good for the championship.

        I love this season. :)

    20. Smedley has to answer for Massa’s position. Its not Felipe’s style but it is pure Ferrari. He did it earlier too.

      1. Wow m0tion, you have just introduced a new type of penalty! Ban Smedley from the pitwall for the first 10-15 laps, that would really make it tough on Massa ;-)

        1. Massa probably wouldn’t even know which way to go round the circuit on his own.

          1. how mature of your logic… even for sarcasm.

            Degrading them for doing the wrong things they did is reasonable, but degrading them for things that they obviously can do is simply immature.

            Sooner or later you hear people saying a Grannies drive faster than F1 drivers…

    21. Lewis looking on the bright side. Does he know something we dont, or is he just happy to keep Jenson behind?

      I was not convinced by Stefano telling us he does not see any problem with Massa slowing down. Will there be a protest and penalty on it?

      The Red Bull must have everybody thinking about sabotaging their cars by now to have a chance for the rest of the year.

    22. Mark Webber starts from pole position for the second [b]race[/b]of the row?

    23. Robert was awesome!!
      He can still battle it out on the run into the first corner. It’s gonna be crazy!

    24. Six consecutive poles by a single team. Surely this is going on the stats and facts page!!

      1. They’ve got some way to go to take that record – I longest streak I can think of is 17 for Mclaren in 1988-89!

        1. Williams probably had some runs of it with Prost and Ferrari in 2004 did some of it as well.

          But the way the Bulls are going, they might make it 20 in a row this year!

          1. I don’t think even Red Bull could manage 20 consecutive poles in a 19-race season. :P

            1. I dunno andy, that car is pretty quick….

    25. After what Martin Withmarsh said about turing the tyres on in comparison with RBR but Kubica as well. Is it possible the Engine enables them to make most of the dynamics to get heat in the tyres?
      Or did Renault find out what Red Bulls secret is.

      1. Martin Brundle noted during the Australian Grand Prix that the Renault had great traction coming off corners, which apparently is one of the most important things in a tight street circuit.

        Vettel also mentioned drive-ability when he was talking about the Renault engine… so perhaps somehow the engine makes it easier to find the right amount of traction… although I have no idea how that would work.

    26. Well, this ought to look good for Red Bull. Alonso is basically out of the points, Button will be starting from 8th, and so on. If they don’t make any mistakes and the car doesn’t break down, it should be a productive race.

      I would have much preferred Vettel in pole, but oh well. Next time hopefully.

      Impressive effort by Kubica, but also by Webber. Three tenths? Nice.

    27. Kubica was doing wonders with his car in first two sectors, but was lacking a bit in the third. I think P1 was within Robert’s his reach, but Webber did an amazing job too. Which is great, because they are both among my favorite characters in F1.

      I felt sorry for Alonso, but after they showed his face for 100th time instead of showing actual action on the track, my compassion went away completely.

      1. Indeed, Webber looked like he could do another 0,3 quicker. Red Bulls keep being enigma.

        1. Thank you very much! =)

    28. Prisoner Monkeys
      15th May 2010, 14:38

      BOO!

      Sorry, but Webber had a completely anonymous weekend until that flying lap. Kubica, on the other hand, had been doing well all weekend. He was much more deserving of pole.

      1. Whoever pulls it out of the bag at the right time in Q3 deserves pole.

        Sorry, but while Kubica was superb, Webber set the fastest time at the right moment.

        1. Gotta agree big time.

          I mean, sure i’d love to see RK on pole, i was watching the quali with my breath held and the moment Webber pull the 1:13 all i said was “Go to hell Neway, go to hell.”

          But again, thats racing, they surely had a fastest car. You could say he didn’t deserve the pole if he cheating getting it, but obviously, he did not.

          1. Worse thing was, they did not even show that first fast lap of Webber, his first competetive lap of the day!

            Showing Alonso all the time really got me off.

      2. LOL what are you talking about? Practice times don’t mean a thing.

      3. LOL!! Anonymous?? It may seem that way but that’s the producers fault. They seemed to think Alonso’s sulking head was more interesting than the qualifying session. That was disgraceful television coverage – Webber was 2nd in Q1, 2nd in Q2 and put in two flying laps for pole yet we saw none of it. Instead we got to see a lap from Kubica, a bit of Button, two full laps from Buemi(despite both being 1.5secs off the pace, and the rest was Alonso’s head. Shocker!!!

      4. 1. Webber Red Bull-Renault
        1:15.035 1:14.462 1:13.826
        2. Kubica Renault
        1:15.045 1:14.549 1:14.120

        the camera followed kubica but the times were a different story.

        kubica was pushing harder all three p sessions, and it was entertaining, and he sucked in the media to his story before qualifying had started. but webber had had his purple sectors regularly too even if he missed half p2. lighting up the time sheets in the p sessions doesn’t mean much and rbr seem to turn down their engines deliberately

        1. Weal, really it does seem like the Redbull was sandbagging, but the producer has got to have the lap delta’s, when webber started setting purple sectors he should have switched to the onboard or something.

          Reallly Kubica’s fastest lap followed by Webbers would have been perfect, BUT NO. We got to stare at Alonso.

          Incidentally, Alonso is our only hope for an interesting race today, so I’d just like to say he’s really great an I hope he can overtake.

    29. Sour grapes mate. Go the Aussies!

      1. Prisoner Monkeys
        15th May 2010, 16:08

        I am Australian. And I cannot for the life of me stand Mark Webber. I never even had the chance to grew to like him. Remember James Allen’s infamous Lewisteria? Well, it’s about a thousand times worse down here. All we get is Webber, Webber, Webber. The so-called commentators have been known to interrupt the BBC commentary to mention that Webber is on-screen simply because the BBC haven’t mentioned it yet (they did it in Malaysia last year) – an it’s not even Webber, it’s a Toro Rosso. All we’re ever told is that Mark Webber will win, that there’s no competition, that he’s clearly been the best all weekend. Our so-called “expert commentary team” consists of 1) Greg Rust, who should be hooked up to a machine that dispenses increasing amounts of pain every time he mentions “Australia’s Mark Webber”, 2) Cameron McConville, a former V8 Supercar driver who apparently sees no difference between a V8 and a Formula 1 car and seems to resent all the Formula 1 drivers for being in Formula 1 when he isn’t and 3) Darryl Beattie, who is probably the most-qualified of the three to commentate … and his history is of racing bikes! They’re a group of idiots who repeatedly make mistakes, only ever report on Mark Webber’s doings and generally make him out to be greater than Ayrton Senna. And what, I’m expected to like him because Webber is Australian and I am too?

        1. Could be worse PM, they could have Big Dazza doing the commentary again!!!!!!!

        2. I totally agree with your rant, It’s all we get, Did you hear last weekend when they attacked Virgin and said they should have just bought a GP2 car and raced that??? God help us if they find out about the HRT.

          1. NONE of that is down to Mark Webber though. I can kind of see why you’re annoyed but ‘can’t stand him’ because of commentators?

            1. Cam McConville hasn’t been doing any of the commentary at all this year – he’s been replaced with Craig Baird, so unsure what coverage you are watching :)

              I do get your point though, I really do think that my dislike of Button started from hearing James Allen rave on about him for 8 years, and how great he was without ever having actually acheived anything (Hungary doesn’t count). Thank God BBC didn’t have him on the commentary team last year or I could not have been held responsible for my actions.

            2. Prisoner Monkeys
              16th May 2010, 2:04

              Cam McConville hasn’t been doing any of the commentary at all this year – he’s been replaced with Craig Baird, so unsure what coverage you are watching

              I put them on mute until they pick up the BBC feed.

            3. PM can you get 5live where you are?

              By far the best F1 programme around at the moment, fantastic knowledgable an exciting commentary, some fantastic guests, we’ve had Stewart (last season) Villenurve and Paul Di Resta all very recently. Croft and Davidson have realy chemistry.

            4. I’ll second what Scribe says.

              Davidson is probably the best commentator out there at the moment. We are lucky enough to get 5Live as our commentary over the South African feed. There are ways and means to get 5Live via BBC iPlayer even outside the UK

              Personally I wish Davidson would also do the commentary for the race day feed.

    30. keep it coming prisoner monkeys

    31. If Massa does not get a penalty for impeding BUT lap then surely HAM will pass him into the first corner. Massa is notorious for poor starts.

      And I feel bad for BUT once again Behind MSC. Surely he will be right there the whole race.

      1. How is he notorious for poor starts? In fact I thought it was quite the opposite.

      2. Massa isn’t notorious for bad starts his actually really good at getting the car off the line.

      3. and on the streets of Monaco, can’t really see Button getting past the Schu either, especially with the Schu driving the widest car on the grid

      4. You mean like that time Massa passed Hamilton around the outside into T1? I dont think he’ll get a penalty, in the end it didn’t impede Button’s final quali position.

      5. Someone didn’t watch the Hungarian GP in 2008!

        1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH7Kk37-53Q

          This is what i remember.

          First lap action… Id take my chances with HAM over MAS any day.

          1. Anyone can look impressive if you take the best bits of their career ;)

            But you know you were wrong about Massa being a poor starter, that is beyond doubt ;)

            1. ok I’ll concede that. but for seem reason my memories of Massa are of him getting passed. looking through the records his first lap average is even, but somehow he slows down. And of course the freshest things in my mind are Massa getting passed by Alonso in Bahrain in Turn 1 and Massa getting passed in the pit entrance by Alonso in China.

            2. Yeah, that’s true. This season, it seems that he just loses whatever he gains from the first lap later on in the race. I guess he is one of the drivers that needs everything perfect in order to excel, which is a quality that makes the other top drivers currently look better than him.

        2. Someone didn’t watch Australia this year, incandecant start from Felipe

    32. FANTASTIC WEBBER’S JOB!! what do u think about Vettels pace…!!!! is he failing?? not sure but obviusly webber is shouting!!
      Fantastic Buemis fast lap..

    33. Great to see the good Mark on pole :D! i wasn’t really expecting that, but im soooo happy my fav driver is up there at F1’s most prestigious race. Well he has always been good there.

      @Those saying he was out of Red Bull: HA HA! :D!

    34. What I believe has happened between Webber and Vettel is that RBR were able to take the weight out of the chassis so they could get Mark down to the minimum equally with Vettel. This ability to balance the chassis shifting weight around has been huge and driver weight has made a bigger difference than anyone has credited. Webber was talking about a lighter chassis becoming available after Melbourne and I thought he was intrinsically quicker after that except where Vettel attacked the high kerbs on the last timed lap.

    35. Oh and on the Monaco difference with Vettel, 4kmh better than him in S2 (F1.com trap times) with total use of the aero through the tunnel, and yet again in the tighter S3 he had the same sort of advantage he had over Vettel in Barca S3

    36. Another great performance from Robert Kubica. I cant’t believe how far he pushes this car and gets fastest laps. I wish he got Pole – he deserved it driving constantly great through all training sessions and qualifications. Hope he will do even better tomorrow. Go ROBERT !!!!!

    37. Congratulations to Mark! First Australian on pole at Monaco since Sir Jack Brabham in 1967!

    38. Rubbish Dave
      15th May 2010, 15:21

      The Massa penalty/no-penalty thing is always going to be awkward… Penalise him and you’ll get people caliming it’s British favouritism by Damon Hill, Don’t and you get claims of favouritism for Ferrari.

      As it stands, less significant blocking has been penalised (and I’m not thinking specifically of Monza 06 here). That the rules with regards to blocking in qualifying were broken is fairly clear. Massa not only failed to move over, but seemed to try and block Buttons attempts to go around. Whether it’s penalised… well, let’s just say I’m glad I’m not the one responsible for making that call. It depends on whether you’re let off due to the driver having time for another attempt.

      My instinct is that it’ll go unpunished.

      1. has to be punished as it was blatant, shame cause that means LH gets a free spot.

        1. ‘shame cause that means LH gets a free spot’

          .and thats a bad thing because?

    39. Webber has always been ‘quick’ in qual
      I would even go as far as saying the only reason Vettel had the wood over him was down to the broken leg and fractured shoulder…

      So it would seem not only has Webber regained some confidence but he is also back to 100% fitness…and the results show…
      Yes he is quick and if he had a decent car in the earlier years he would have had more wins and poles and who know wdc?!?!?

    40. INCREDIBLE drive from Kubica, kudos to Webbo. Tomorrow will be a hell of a fight. As much as I like Mark, I can imagine him making an error while Robert “The Metronome” storming for the win. Cheers from Poland for all Aussies :)

      1. he has always been very solid at Monaco. He has never crashed on Sunday’s afternoon there…

        why would he crash? The chances are the same as Kub crashing out

        1. Never said anything about crashing. I meant an error allowing Kubica to pass (getting in a mess with backmarkers perhaps?). It’s over 70 laps to make a mistake, and to be honest Kubica is less likely to make one. I would never want to see Mark crash or retire with some kind of technical failure.

    41. One thing I have to point out…if this was Hamilton whipping the field by being the only man in the 13’s and 3tenths faster than 2nd…
      It would be Hamilton DOMINATES qual….
      A Senna esk’ performance…

      hmmmm…

      But Mark just “beats Kubica to pole position”

      1. Right. Keith is the John Bull of F1 bloggers and will not rest until the world toils under a British yoke. Give it up. If anything, Keith has been pretty quick to malign Lewis Hamilton and at every opportunity this year.

        1. it not really in relation tho this site, even though I may have used keiths headline…

          I was more referring to the tv coverage, and every other f1 media outlet..
          SO forget here just to not get anyone’s knickers in a knot.

        2. True. There is absolutely no favouritism towards Lewis from Keith this year, if anything, more invitations to bash and not heralding good performances. Whereas he has been quick to defend/protect Button.

          So, you’ve got it completely wrong there AP.

          1. I haven’t got a preference for either driver and I don’t believe I’ve shown one.

            And I don’t think anyone will be persuaded by someone who leaps at every opportunity to criticise Button and praise Hamilton to the hilt.

            1. Younger Hamilton
              15th May 2010, 20:46

              Everyone always defends and favours Jenson always JENSON JENSON JENSON!!!it has to be about Jenson all the time,what about Lewis he has done brilliant drives so far this season and you havent even commented on that not even saying something on the articles like ‘Lewis produced a Spectactular drive from that grid position or produced fantastic overtakes’ we come to this website to express our feelings about the Cars,Drivers and Teams we talk about what happened in Quali and in the race.Keith, you shouldnt favour one particular driver,im not saying you are but there are a couple of suggestions that you are (Jenson!) but you made this website dont make this website a Anti-Hamilton or Alonso one.

            2. Unbiased presentation from Keith this year in my view also

          2. Again..!!!

            I was more referring to the tv coverage, and every other f1 media outlet..!
            even though I may have used keiths headline…

            1. and b4 I have another post saying the same bloody thing…

              I am not really meanind this site, EVEN though I may have used Keiths headline…

              I was more referring to the tv coverage, and every other f1 media outlet..

            2. Kubica vs Webber was the theme in qual, and the Title represents that.

            3. Well what do you expect if you come to this site and complain? If you leave a comment in response to an article, quoting it, people are going to assume you’re talking about this article.

        3. Younger Hamilton
          15th May 2010, 20:36

          i actually agree with you on that its actually Lewis and McLaren that Keith has been maliging no offence Keith,but i read a article i think during the chinese gp weekend it was about lap time comparison and it said that McLaren were the fourth fastest car on the grid we all know thats not true and that McLaren are the 2nd Fastest car behind Red Bull

          1. Don’t be ridiculous. Keith is one of the most fair-minded F1 journalists I’ve come across. Even some of the seasoned pros, who have been doing it for years, show more partisanship than Keith does. In general Keith’s writing is just brutally honest – he’s been as critical of Schumacher, Alonso and virtually every other high-profile driver (and team) as he has about Hamilton. And he’s defended all of them from their critics in the past too. Just look at the archives.

            If you want a shameless Hamilton/McLaren love-in then I suggest you pick up a copy of F1 Racing. It’s your money.

            1. No Andy did you not see last weekend? If you look closely at Hamilton’s onboard just before his wheel rim failure you can clearly see Keith hanging onto the tyre with a crow bar trying to rip it off. ;)
              Sorry couldn’t resist!
              Agree that Keith is without shadow of a doubt, one of the most balanced journalists. Drivers can get it right/wrong sometimes and Keith just honestly reports it. If there’s any issues I think Keith is just an easy target for when fans don’t like what happens on track. Besides, if Keith is so terrible why keep visiting?
              Keith I for one really appreciate everything you do. Everyone can have soft spots but it takes a great character to report fairly and iron it out.

            2. Younger Hamilton
              16th May 2010, 0:43

              I do think Keith is a great Journalist of course,he has built one of the best F1 Fanatic Website i’ve ever seen all updated,Track Info and even recommends people to watch other caterories of Motorsport but im just expressing how i feel in the situation i may have been a little harsh but thats just how i feel.

              Sorry Keith if i’ve upsetted you.

            3. you idiots…

              I cant be any more CLEAR in saying I was NOT referring to this site…in the past yer but I have even made mention a long while ago how it has changed..

              But to make a point ON OTHER sites even just going back to last year…

              Heres a few headlines 09
              “last-gasp Button steals Monaco pole” f1.com
              “Superb Button steals Monaco pole” bbc
              “Streets ahead: Brawn leader Button lands pole again” mailonline
              “Jenson Button does it again as Ferrari hit back” F1Fanatic

            4. ok just because you all cant read..and decided to have a crack even after I MADE it quite clear I wasn’t even referring to this site…

              “Webber beats Vettel to pole”
              “Webber gambles for pole”
              “Webber beats Kubica”
              F1 Fanatic
              or
              “Untouchable Hamilton claims Abu Dhabi pole” F1 Fanatic

              could I be any clearer now…..?!?!?!?

            5. Hamilton had been fastest in all three parts of qualifying – indeed he had never been outside the top two all weekend. His margin of superiority was more than twice what Webber’s is here, so I think “untouchable” is a fair description.

              But don’t worry, I’m sure S Hughes will be along in a moment to explain how this is further evidence of me always begin critical of Hamilton…

            6. @AP – In Spain and Monaco, Webber was not untouchable – he beat Vettel by a tenth I think, and now Kubica by 3 tenths. In Malaysia he got pole with a very different strategy.

              Hamilton really was untouchable in Abu Dhabi – he got that pole by around a second I think.

              That’s the difference.

      2. The headline reflects what happened in the session and in the weekend so far. With Alonso out of the picture Kubica looked good in FP3 and strong in qualifying.

        The story of qualifying was Webber doing the business and beating Kubica. Hence the headline.

        The gap is three-tenths of a second, that’s not domination, especially not when the guy on pole is in the fastest car on the grid and the guy alongside him is in the fifth-fastest car.

        I’m not saying any of this to denigrate Webber – he did a great lap and was quicker than Vettel. But you have to respect what Kubica did too.

        1. “Heres a few headlines 09
          “last-gasp Button steals Monaco pole” f1.com
          “Superb Button steals Monaco pole” bbc
          “Streets ahead: Brawn leader Button lands pole again” mailonline
          “Jenson Button does it again as Ferrari hit back” F1Fanatic”

          I cant see whats wrong with the F1.com or F1fanatic one really, there merely stating Button has got pole.
          The other two are more Button focused but hey thats the british media for you,
          they also thought Tim Henman would win Wimbledon :p

    42. And, yes, Massa needs a penalty. If Fred got that penalty for impeding Massa at Monza when he was 100m ahead, what is the deal now? Button was always a couple tenths off Hamilton’s pace so the result may not have been any different butt- Massa, but without rules, civilized society would crumble, etc. If it were Hamilton slamming on the brakes in Rascasse with a Ferrari just behind we would already have 150 comments reciting Hamilton’s rap sheet and solemnly condemning him for more purposefully ruthless behavior. If it were Alonso, similar result, though in less degree.

      1. Button was really off with his timing on that lap.. he was 7 to 8 tenths off after S2. Nothing would have come out of it anyways.

        What annoys me is the constant crying of Jenson Button. “I cant get by Schumi..waaa waaa. massa spoilt my already slow lap…waaa waaa… i cant get no grip.. waa waa.”

        Jenson should shutup and stop blaming people everytime he is ridiculously slow. I liked him before he was WDC, as no one expected anything from him, and he didn’t have to make excuses for not being as fast as the better drviers on the grid.

        1. I haven’t heard Button say waa waa massa slowed me, in fact, it was the commentators both on tv and here who have said it!

          1. Scrap that, just read something he said, but regardless, He does have a right to complain, Massa should have done better.

            ridiculously slow? maybe, but he’s won two races that way…

            1. @mike. Are you telling me that jenson won those races on pure pace and great overtaking? or was it due to a little bit of luck and good strategic calls?

      2. Worth remembering the rules on impeding have changed since Monza ’06.

      3. 2 wrongs don’t make a right.

        An insane decision (Alonso Monza penalty) should not be the precedent for future decisions.

        1. AP, Webber didn’t dominate qualifying. And Keith’s given Hamilton plenty of praise on this site, I just think his fans remember the worser stuff about him and haters remember the good stuff. He came 5th, end of.

    43. WEBBER IS GREAT
      15th May 2010, 15:44

      GO WEBBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Awesome. Webber is awesome. What a championship. Bring it on!

    44. Great drives from Webber and Kubica and Liuzzi..its his first time out qualifying sutil, i beleive.

      Disappointed with both Nico’s, expected more out of them…street circuits bring out the best drivers to the front.

      I hope Ferrari takes Kubica on board next year…Alonso and Kubica would be huge contest

      1. Thats the dream team right there.

    45. if webber wins, vettel come in 2nd and button 6th there is a 3 way tie for wdc…

      If my maths skills are correct.

      1. That just might be unprecedented, what is the most drivers to have ever been equal in a championship?

        1. I remember 24 before the Bahrain GP.

          After Silverstone 2008 there was a three-way tie – Massa, Hamilton and Raikkonen on 48, Kubica 46.

    46. Massa messed with Button times and Barrichelo with both Rosberg and Schumacher. Monaco does not provide the best Q3s…

      Alonso should pull a ‘Hamilton’ since he’s starting last. I bet he’ll catch up Massa :D

    47. I dont think the live television feed shows the best action taking place on the track. FOM keeps the best action pictures for their own production at the end of the year. The fans are simply robbed of the best.

    48. I didn’t know where to ask this but thought I might get a reply here: Fernando missed qualifying so, short of anything dramatic happening, he’s not exactly likely to get any points. Would it be possible if Ferrari decided it wasn’t worth it for him to skip the race entirely? Is that allowed? (Hypothetically speaking; I’m sure Fernando will race despite starting in the pit lane!)

    49. Hi all,
      Just moved from Aus to USA, and wondering if anyone knows where I can stream the race from? I watched it on SPEED TV last week, but its not available where I am this week… plus its just not the same without hearing Martin’s voice!!
      Thanks
      Matt

    50. forza kubica :)

    51. Younger Hamilton
      15th May 2010, 17:47

      Well done to Kubica for spliting the red bullshe was fantastic and blitz in the practice sessions i think this was the best quali so far this season despite a red bull (Mark) still coming out on top.I was expecting more from the two Mclarens since Monaco being a track Mclaren are always very strong if the Renault and the two redbulls dominate at least slot in 4th and 5th behind them but overally P5 for Lewis and P8 for Jenson,Ok.Everyone was struggling with the option tyres(Soft Compound)i was very surprised i only realised that when Martin Brundle went mad in Q3 over the commentary with everyone struggling.Anyway at least Alonso starts from the pits

    52. Brilliant drive from Kubica. It was outstanding performance.

    53. Younger Hamilton
      15th May 2010, 17:50

      2nd Comment,I think Mark Webber to win the race,Lewis Hamilton to get Fastest lap,and podium:

      1st Webber
      2nd Kubica
      3rd Hamilton
      or
      1st Webber
      2nd Hamilton
      3rd Kubica

      1. i reckon Kubica might steal the top. He is very good at starts and has shown an amazing performances in Monaco

        1. Dirty side not much good in Monza

          1. Must have meant Monte Carlo! dislexia will be my next blog tag!

            1. doesn’t look right either .. dyslexia

    54. Younger Hamilton
      15th May 2010, 18:01

      Red Bull are really making F1 Qualifying boring can anyone stop them in Quali everyone,you do know its not good in terms of TV Views and Ratings if this trend continue.I think only McLaren can stop them considering that they can develop a car through a season better than anyone else.The Only think they can do now is keep spliting the two Red Bulls in the race.Because our race pace if not the best then level with red bull its most certainly better than Ferrari and Mercedes.

      1. You obviously weren’t watching f1 7-8 years ago. I think the quali sessions have been among the best i’ve ever seen this year. Proper edge of the seat stuff. And by reading your previous comments you wouldn’t be saying that if Hamilton had got every pole so far ;)

    55. Younger Hamilton
      15th May 2010, 18:17

      i fear for Lewis,will this year become the 2006 Kimi Raikkonen who never won a race that season and the best results of the were a couple of 2nd place finishes and lots of fastest laps in races.Lewis needs to pick up a couple of wind under his belt and hope Redbull slip up.I dont want that to happen to Lewis

      1. Younger Hamilton
        15th May 2010, 18:23

        sorry too many mistakes let me rewrite it:

        i fear for Lewis,will he this year become the 2006 Kimi Raikkonen who never won a race that season and the best results of the season were a couple of 2nd place finishes and lots of fastest laps in races?Lewis needs to start picking up race wins under his name and hope Redbull slip up and McLaren catch up to them ASAP.I dont want that happening to Lewis which probably resulted in Raikkonen moving to Ferrari in 07.

        Please McLaren Catch red bull or F1 will probably go back to the low TV Ratings years when Ferrari had a 4 year Dominance with Michael Schumacher

        1. It’s nice that you have such a passion for Lewis. But you might find the sport more enjoyable if you learn to appreciate the sport for the sport, rather than looking at it from such a passionate single angle. The competiveness af the racing this year between teams is much tighter and more variable than the long term average in F1. If you think something is boring just because your favourite is not winning you are costing yourself enjoyment along the way. My advice would be to enjoy the sport and treat it as a bonus if your favourite wins or does well.

    56. I’s really too bad that Alonso crashed out. I’m no big fan of his, but it would have been way more desirable to have him circulating the track during qualifying. That would have spared us being constantly subjected to those shots of his sour puss glaring out from the back of the garage. The director must be Spanish. Sure hope he manages to finish the race tomorrow so we don’t get treated to more of the same!

    57. Regarding Massa and Button, I suspect there were a lot of other similar incidents that weren’t shown on television.

      1. This is true. Alluding to Webber’s 2 flying laps also, it just shows how difficult it is to get coverage of all the action at Monaco.

        Also, if what Massa said is true, Massa was being held up by someone else, so it was a sort of dominos effect that Button suffered from – Button wouldn’t have seen the guy in front of Massa round the last corner.

    58. Kubica is good but he does lack that flair.alonso is a champion driver alittle bit of a cry baby tho.I’m sorry but who’s webber?and vettels got no metal!they just got dam good cars.like button had last year.button is an average driver but with a lot of experience to giv him the edge a winer tho.lewis is the most naturally talented race driver on da track nw.imagin him in da red bull!!shcumacher as long as he don’t get his way he wnt b getn any wins…ps vettel is arrogant,o and massa is too inconsistent.not champion material.

      1. How can you say Kubica has no flair? Did you even watch that qualifying session? :P

        1. Totally agree…he s shown the most flair to me!!!!!!!!

      2. you only get “that flair” cred from a lot of the crowd when you have “those wheels” under you. but there is a whole dimension of auto sport many miss with some of the best drivers in 2nd rate cars. follow some of them and you get more out of the sport. it will be great to see if hulk can get on terms with rubens, it might make a man out of him and then he can be a champion. the respect ricciardello is showing rbr is already showing with his maturity

        i thought kubica could have given a bit more driving wise at bmw when he had justifiable reasons for his grudge but he has always been a sensation when committed. it is great seeing him rise from poland where money backing, no home gp, and the smaller fan base mean you have to be so much better than those around you and to stay out of the clutches of pay drivers

    59. Younger Hamilton
      15th May 2010, 20:20

      Wow Ferrari and McLaren need to kidnap Adrian Newey and nick those extra tenths of Red Bull

    60. Good qualifying session, as you can expect from Monaco GP.
      I was surprise to see Massa backed off that much in front of Button, to me that was unnecessary.But I think the Mercedes may be disappointed. Good job from Rubens Barrichello. & Massa have finally shown some good pace his last flying lap in Q3 was awesome as he slides his car on the last corner.

    61. Agree with some of the other comments re not showing the flying laps. I know Monaco is a hard circuit to film, but really, that coverage was pretty ordinary. But fantastic results for Webber and Kubica, and I am now even looking more forward to the race (if that is possible).

    62. I stand corrected kubica is a very good driver what I meant was that he lacked that flair when not in the car.I take nothing from kubika on the race track he is damn good and I can see that in the near future he will be a champion!ofcause we don’t watch the drivers that much off the track but a driver/champion past and present is much more colourful with a little controversy.ayrton senna isn’t the greatest driver because of the number of races or championships he won but because he IS formula 1 he is the race and he is the car!!!!

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