Seb's last years speed trap at Monaco: 1st practice: 279.1 2nd practice: 274.3... 3rd practice: 280.0
IT does seem strange to see Vettel have a lower top speed that even the HRT's but there is a small diffference between him and even Ricciardo and If ever top speed counted for little, here they are.
I think pole position will go to Hamilton as long as he doesn't make any big mistakes in Q3. McLaren have been much better qualifying than in races (confirming a pulled autosport article), and Hamilton was fastest in sector 3 in Spain. With Button still moaning, no one other than Hamilton has a realistic chance of pole - assuming it's dry. I'm not convinced about Lotus. Their sector three times from qualifying in Spain weren't impressive (Grosjean 7th, Raikkonen 11th) and Grosjean's fastest lap today was only a tenth faster than Alonso's best time in the morning. The car seems well balanced but I'm not convinced that it's the car to beat. You know the F2012 is quick when Massa can get a good lap out of it. Alonso on twiiter is "#Happy", the last time he said that was on the final day of Mugello. Positive comments from Massa as well: "The car seemed to me to be okay right from the start of the first session, with a good balance in all conditions and with slightly better traction than we had expected. Even when we ran the Intermediates in the final part of the second session, the feeling was still positive...the Softs worked well, also in terms of their degradation." I don't think we've seen the true pace of Williams yet.
I have to think that Ferrari are probably in with a strong shout. Even Massa looked racier today, only 6 tenths off Alonso in practice 1, and remember, Alonso brings 6 tenths to a car apparently. And in FP2, Massa beat Alonso. So if Massa is looking decent, then Alonso should comfortable take pole.
Lotus destroyed the speed trap classification in Spain suggesting they were running longer gear ratios, which would've compromised their traction compared to the others. They've looked excellent on traction everywhere else from what I've seen. I think it will be between Lotus and Ferrari for pole, Williams third quickest. I'm not sure about McLaren, I think they'll be fourth fastest but might mix it with the top three. Red Bull, Sauber and Mercedes will be scrapping with each other to get into Q3 I think. Red Bull are really up against it right now, they'll probably be 7th quickest in Montreal, the next two races are about damage limitation, hopefully they'll regroup for Valencia.
Grid looks like for me... Lotus Ferrari///McLaren Sauber Williams ................................. Top 10 RBR=Mercedes Some big scalps could be going in Q2... Bruno or Kimi could **** up giving one of the RB's or Merc's a chance. Might see Seb and Schumacher kicked out if it's really tight like China as both Nico and Webber are pretty strong around here.
I have a feeling McLaren are sandbagging a bit, for Hamilton to be slower than a Sauber shows that they aren't taking it seriously yet. (No offence to sauber)
I think Ferrari and McLaren will be the teams to beat. So far this season, every time LOtus appear to have the quickest car, something happens to prevent them from utilising it, e.g. Kimi's belated pitstop in Bahrain (if he'd pitted a lap earlier he would have jumped Vettel and probably won).
Mclaren never show their hand in Practice. They always look slow compared to Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus but come quali they turn the wick up so to speak (Well Hamilton does). Don't rule them out or Red Bull. Vettel, Webber, Button, Hamilton & Alonso have all taken pole here so Saturday will also show if Grosjean has the mental strength to hook the perfect lap up under pressure to get pole, I think Kimi's lack of running today will cost him.
I don't think RBR have the pace, it doesn't look like sandbagging, the car just genuinely appears to be slower than expected. I'm thinking they lack mechanical grip, it always tends to be an afterthought with a Newey car. His focus is Aero grip.
Whitmarsh: Suprise! For Q1 we accidentally filled both your tanks up to the brim and you got 2 minutes to set a lap, to boot it's raining and everybody else set their lap in the dry, go go go!
One thing I have learned over the past 2 years is never rule out Vettel. But it is interesting that in qualifying they are slow but race they are quick but here if you have poor pace on saturday you suffer severely on sunday.
Even he wouldn't be able to put this car on pole around here. It just genuinely seems to dislike the track.
Mechanical grip has always been a RB weakness. That's why the McLarens were always able to be a major threat in the wet with their standard longer wheelbase.
Pole setters: Alonso:07 Massa:08 Button:09 Webber:10 Vettel:11 Lewis has indeed, not been on pole at Monaco before.
