So once again, at the ultimate drivers circuit, it seems to be Alonso making the waves. Fastest in all practises last year (until he cracked the chassis in a meeting with the barriers) and showing great pace here are we seeing the driving ability of Alonso making the difference. But wait, Massa is showing a great turn of speed also. It is reported Ferrari have made several upgrades to the car. So are these upgrades making the difference or is the Ferrari just working well when it comes down to the mechanical grip of the car? Are these practise sessions forcing anyone to revise any race predictions? While obviously a very optimistic session for the prancing horse I still can only forsee a RBR front row.
Alonso's a great driver, the car is just ****. This needs to be sorted out for next year, the rest of the season almost seems a formality now!
The Ferrari has good traction and rides the bumps well, it was always going to be at home on the streets of Monaco. Alonso is driving beautifully though. Until qualifying when everyone shows their hand we won't know. I think Red Bull probably had a bit of fuel on board and they weren't really using Kers and to me, Hamilton didn't look as if he was pushing as hard as he could. I also think Renault are holding back, maybe not enough to put them in contention for pole but I think they'll be a lot closer to the front than they were today.
Both Alonso and Rosberg did a good job with the cars they have....so far at least. Better it be him rather than Lewis.
You sure, seemed to be pushing quite hard from what I could see, even outbraking himself a few times. Still impressive pace. 4 team battle for front row, cant wait P.S. can anyone shed any light as to why FP1 and 2 were on thursday and we now have a day break until qualifying?
Ferrari have made significant strides forward. My feeling is that it is now the second fastest car on the grid. Unlike Massa - who is looking very untidy by comparison and I wouldn't be surprised to see him bash the barriers some time at the weekend - Alonso is doing a great job. In his hands the Ferrari is looking very handy. The high level of mechanical grip this car seems to generate is ideal for Alonso's preference to set his car for understeer which will also be very helpful for tyre preservation here at Monaco. Until Vettel's impressive showing at Barcelona, I'd have not had a second thought about saying that the Ferrari number one has always been the better fighter. And, since Barcelona rewards downforce over mechanical grip as much as any other circuit on the calendar, this is probably still the case. But I'm taking nothing away from Vettel with this comment, who is showing signs of tightening up his weak links. And in that car, wo-betide the rest of the gridâ¦
Yes, Alonso has always been extremely capable and its clear the hardware was not quite up to the job so the car has obviously improved signifigantly, maybe thing are going to get harder for Red Bull.
You would like to think but I feel once we get back to the aerodynamic circuits the status quo will resume. It's Canada next yes? In that case I feel these 2 races for Red Bull will be their most difficult*, if they increase their points lead or keep it relatively unchanged then they will sail to the end. This is going to be the critical moment for rivals to put them under some pressure to at least make them work to the end of the season for their championships. * Another interesting question is what actually constitutes "difficult" for Red Bull? Is it people actually mixing it with them in the races or is it a shorter gap back to those following compared to the easier races?
It's a bit of both. Ferrari were very competitive around Monaco last season, when the car hadn't won since Bahrain, and it seems to be the same here. Some of the improvements from the last race may also suit this track better than Catalunya, so the engineers are able to get the most out of the car. Then we get to the big man. Alonso is supreme around this track when given a car remotely capable. Last year, he was on for a comfortable weekend until he made an uncharacteristic error. Then there was '07, where he successfully showed up a young Lewis Hamilton, and blew both Ferraris into the distance. He's a very good driver, especially around street circuits. I remember a quote that Martin Brundle once said on a Top Gear interview: "All of us could go out and find a tenth, or 2 tenths, but the truly great drivers can find half a second, or 3 quarters of a second" Alonso clearly showed that in Qualifying last weekend, and I can see him doing something similar, but even higher up the field (The first non red bull pole ) And on his helmet, what do people think?
Well, lets hope so, its clear now that Red Bull need signifigant airflow over the car to make it work and that's their achilles heel, the other teams particularily Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes need to sieze the oportunities at the lower downforce circuits, although I still suspect the Hamilton McLaren combination will succeed more than most.
