No prizes for guessing the main topic of discussion on social media on the Saturday of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. It was, of course, whether or not Nico Rosberg had deliberately tried to bring the yellow flags out to win the race.
Meanwhile one particularly famous fan got to meet the man who runs the sport – but not his favourite driver.
Here are the Twitter highlights of an eventful day in Monte-Carlo.
So it’s the start of a very important day in M/C, qualifying takes precedence over all else here. Race pace secondary to that all out Q lap.
— Marc Priestley (@f1elvis) May 24, 2014
The F1 drivers all dressed up at the @AmberLoungeLtd show last night. Some look a little cooler than others… pic.twitter.com/ZPIx7Z1lOP
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) May 24, 2014
Third practice
Rosberg slows down a lot for Sainte Devote and takes care getting around Ericsson’s recovering Caterham. #F1 pic.twitter.com/5CGz5fMbIo
— F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) May 24, 2014
A heart-in-mouth moment for Bottas who catches a slide in the middle of Massenet. #F1 pic.twitter.com/JisBlfT3tI
— F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) May 24, 2014
Alonso presses the Ferrari’s special ‘remove backmarkers’ button. #F1 pic.twitter.com/ASZElAAB22
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) May 24, 2014
Daniel Ricciardo split the Mercedes cars in the final practice session. But he wouldn’t be able to mount a proper challenge come qualifying.
Come on @danielricciardo – get in the fight for pole !
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) May 24, 2014
You can get quite close to the cars here. This is the apex of Tabac pic.twitter.com/csHAyWlTqp
— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) May 24, 2014
Qualifying
Having lost Sir Jack Brabham, it's worth noting that a Brabham chassis first started from pole 50 years ago today (Dan Gurney, NED 64) #F1
— Sean Kelly (@virtualstatman) May 24, 2014
Kvyat: “Damaged front wing, suspension feels OK.” #F1 pic.twitter.com/ybeqHMEmch
— F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) May 24, 2014
Massa was letting Ericsson through at Mirabeau but the Caterham hit him. #F1 pic.twitter.com/aMfV5EMxZX
— F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) May 24, 2014
So, Lewis or Nico? Or anyone else, indeed …. pole for #MonacoGP
— Kevin Eason (@easonF1) May 24, 2014
Whatever happens in Q3, Daniil Kvyatt’s top ten performance on his Monaco debut is impressive. Toro Rosso team-mate Vergne doing well too.
— Steve Slater (@steveslaterF1) May 24, 2014
Hamilton falls short of Rosberg’s mark by 0.059s, advantage Rosberg for now. #F1
— F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) May 24, 2014
Last few minutes now… very hard to choose between Hamilton and Rosberg #MonacoGP
— Daniel Johnson (@danielt_johnson) May 24, 2014
Rosberg off at Mirabeau! On provisional pole but his session is over. #F1
— F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) May 24, 2014
Nope, that’s not the right way #Rosberg #F1 pic.twitter.com/zo7Gp6VXQ3
— Mattzel89 (@Mattzel89) May 24, 2014
Inevitably there will be accusations Rosberg ‘pulled a Schumacher’ (2006) but at first glance it looked like a genuine error. #F1
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) May 24, 2014
Hmmm. Rosberg’s error gives himself pole. Yellow flags ruin Hamilton’s lap.
— Ben Hunt (@benjhunt) May 24, 2014
Mind you there were some odd steering movements from Rosberg on the way in. Wonder if the stewards will at least take a look? #F1
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) May 24, 2014
Rosberg’s investigation
After qualifying, talk was dominated by Rosberg’s Mirabeau mistake. The stewards later ruled he did not go off deliberately in order to ensure himself pole position.
Raikkonen: "I am not here to judge anybody & say what was true & what was not. He knows himself. It is hard to say was it a mistake or not"
— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) May 24, 2014
That’s a pretty hollow triumph but Rosberg seems to celebrating it like its a world title. Lewis looks livid. #f1
— Byron Young (@byronf1) May 24, 2014
Would love to see the data overlay from Rosberg’s pole lap to his Mirabeau overshoot. That’s your smoking gun – if there indeed is one. #F1
— Charles Bradley (@Autosport_Ed) May 24, 2014
ice-cold atmosphere! Star wars… pic.twitter.com/1hqUcsIFGu
— Nicola Pohl (@NicolaBILD) May 24, 2014
V difficult not to be reminded of ’07 with all this & whilst it makes a great story from the outside, it’s not pleasant inside the garage.
— Marc Priestley (@f1elvis) May 24, 2014
I wonder, without the 2006 qualifying ‘incident’, would there be so much suspicion around Rosberg’s error? Still, fascinating #F1
— Glenn Freeman (@glenn_autosport) May 24, 2014
The irony of Briatore being asked about potential underhand tactics looks lost on Sky Sports F1.
— Motors TV (@MotorsTV) May 24, 2014
Oh dear. The credibility of #SkyTV just dropped as they drag Flavio Briatore on screen to talk about cheating. I mean, really? #Irony
— F1 Paddock Pass (@F1PaddockPass) May 24, 2014
Flavio on whether that was an act of sportsmanship – you couldn't make this up.
— Manish Pandey (@mpandey69) May 24, 2014
HAM will be miffed unless ROS penalised. ROS miffed if he is. Is this the beginning of the end at Merc? #nowinsituation #F1
— Maurice Hamilton (@MauriceHamilton) May 24, 2014
Nico running to the stewards office after bring summoned for what happened at Mirabeau #skyf1 #ssn pic.twitter.com/nWGsPkQ2xF
— Rachel Brookes (@RachelBrookesTV) May 24, 2014
When Schumacher committed a Monaco qualifying foul in ’06, Nico’s father Keke described him as ‘a cheat who should be banned.’ #SkyF1
— Mark Hughes (@SportmphMark) May 24, 2014
Rob Smedley: Felipe had an unlucky session with the incident with Ericsson and we didn’t quite have the pace in Valtteri’s car #MonacoGP
— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) May 24, 2014
So an absolutely crazy day in Monaco draws to a close. Nico is cleared, but Lewis is clearly hurt. Body language and comments spoke volumes
— Daniel Johnson (@danielt_johnson) May 24, 2014
Enjoying the Monaco GP in a different way this year, but seriously missing the commitment needed to put a lap together in Qualy. #monacogp
— Paul Di Resta (@pauldirestaf1) May 24, 2014
Funniest thing I heard today – Justin Bieber had a selfie with Bernie Ecclestone, and wanted to see Alonso, but the Spaniard was too busy.
— Daniel Johnson (@danielt_johnson) May 24, 2014
Bernie is a Belieber. pic.twitter.com/C5rvzbfJzY"
— Phil Duncan (@PhilDuncanF1) May 24, 2014
While all the Merc stuff was going on, @alo_oficial put in a beautiful, beautiful lap…
— Manish Pandey (@mpandey69) May 24, 2014
F1 Fanatic on Twitter
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Michael C
24th May 2014, 21:26
Lots of negative comments towards Nico – which I agree with. Although it easily looked like Rosberg manufactured a lock up and reversed to the edge of the slip road, I’m glad he didn’t get a penalty because if Hamilton overtakes him tomorrow, that’ll be even more damaging.
JFK
25th May 2014, 9:22
German driver in a German car prevents British teammate from attempting a pole lap?
there’s one for the conspiracy theorists!!
michael pearson (@michael123)
26th May 2014, 11:40
hello i said the same;;; yesterday { jfk ]seams we are on the same wavelength,, do you remember ronaldo winking when got d becham [ sent off ], now we see ; rosberg wink craftily to his manager, [ he knows exactly what he did ] and it worked ;;, but as we all know lewis has never any support, from the powers that be;;; even if they are brits ;d hill or other EX drivers , lets just hope he copes and gets on with, with his great GIFT…….
Patrick (@paeschli)
24th May 2014, 21:29
Some say Hamiltons reaction was childisch, but Rosbergs celebrations were a bit out of place.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
24th May 2014, 21:41
Maybe he was hungrier for that pole position.
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
25th May 2014, 10:05
he should have gone for a donut then
Kingshark (@kingshark)
24th May 2014, 21:43
If I got pole at Monaco I’d celebrate regardless of whether it was a hollow pole or not.
Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
24th May 2014, 23:05
+1
A pole position is a pole position. If he didn’t cheat (which I don’t believe he did) then he can celebrate all he wants.
GB (@bgp001ruled)
26th May 2014, 4:38
exactly! specially in monaco, where pole almost means winning! i dont think he did it on pourpuse, but still his reversing was strange!
Steven (@steevkay)
24th May 2014, 21:43
He’ll need to take a moment to cool off; when you’re on a hot lap and anything screws it up, I’m sure any of the drivers would be a little frustrated.
We’ll see how the race goes; if Hamilton doesn’t cool off, we may see the Mercs tangle in a first corner incident or other careless kamikaze move. I think it’ll be a matter of who is quicker to the first corner off the start and then team orders coming into play. I suppose it’ll come down to how quickly the Mercs can build the gap, since that’s the logic Mercedes management is using to decide if the drivers can battle or not.
It’s great drama for all the spectators (hunger this and upbringing that and Schumacher this and Rascasse that) but if I were Mercedes management, I’d be very anxious about tomorrow and have a thorough meeting with both drivers.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
25th May 2014, 2:27
@paeschli considering pole at Monaco is like 60% of a win (or more), it’s a very much needed relief for Rosberg’s title aspirations…
Steve Cocker
25th May 2014, 10:05
Rosberg’s over celebration on gaining pole, when he knew of the controversy speaks volumes, he obviously considered he should celebrate but went a little overboard, guilty?
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
24th May 2014, 21:54
Oh god, I thought that F1Fanatic was the one place on the interweb that I would be safe from having to see photographs of Justin Bieber. No more, please, no more!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th May 2014, 22:00
@ferrox-glideh Sorry! You know I wouldn’t have recognised him if I saw him down the shops. But I liked the incongruity of him in a selfie with Bernie Ecclestone. Won’t be making a habit of it, promise.
Nick (@npf1)
24th May 2014, 22:17
I hope Bernie doesn’t make a habit of getting in pictures with Bieber neither..
BasCB (@bascb)
25th May 2014, 6:35
maybe shared mugshots @npf1!
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag)
25th May 2014, 0:20
@keithcollantine
I for one hope he doesn’t end up doing the podium interviews after the race…
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
25th May 2014, 10:07
@xjr15jaaag Oh no ! not even in my worst nightmare .
Toxic (@)
25th May 2014, 1:39
No excuses please or we’re going to tell you up to stewards for some investigation ;)
The Abbinator (@abbinator)
24th May 2014, 22:14
Bieber looks high as a kite!
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
24th May 2014, 22:15
Ecclestone complained so much about the noise and then hangs out with Bieber, irony?
nidzovski
25th May 2014, 5:24
A good one :)
Matt Clark (@mattc888)
25th May 2014, 8:58
@hunocsi Haha classic!
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
25th May 2014, 12:15
quote of the day!
The Abbinator (@abbinator)
24th May 2014, 22:17
Sutil’s bow tie – one word: classy. Looks like a total knob (of butter, that is)…
OmarR-Pepper (@)
24th May 2014, 22:55
That photo of the drivers in suits looks like a kinder prom!!! They look so tiny!
Makana (@makana)
24th May 2014, 23:43
My respect for Alonso has grown tenfold. Fernando is an UnBelieber.
JohnBt (@johnbt)
25th May 2014, 4:17
@keithcollantine, sorry that bieber pic sure didn’t go well with me. He’s not a good example to be in sports like F1. Not at all, sorry for the rant.