10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview - Monaco

[Super Tourer]

10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview – Monaco

23rd May 2004.


2003 Result after 78 Laps

1 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 78 Laps 1:42:19

2 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 78 +0.6

3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 78 +1.7

4 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 78 +28.5

5 Fernando Alonso Renault 78 +36.2

6 Jarno Trulli Renault 78 +40.9

7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 78 +41.2

8 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 78 +53.2

9 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 77 +1 Lap

10 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 77 +1 Lap

11 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 76 +2 Laps

12 Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 76 +2 Laps

13 Olivier Panis Toyota 74 +4 Laps


Ret 16 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 63 Engine 11

Ret 18 Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 29 Fuel system 19

Ret 19 Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 28 Fuel system 18

Ret 14 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 16 Hydraulics 9

Ret 15 Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 10 Electrical 13

Ret 10 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 0 Accident 15

Fastest Lap: Kimi Räikkönen 1'14.545





2003 Grid

1 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:15.259

2 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.295

3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:15.415

4 Jarno Trulli Renault 1:15.500

5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:15.644

6 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.700

7 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:15.820

8 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:15.884

9 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:16.237

10 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:16.744

11 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:16.755

12 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:16.967

13 Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1:17.103

14 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:17.176

15 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:17.402

16 Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:17.452

17 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:17.464

18 Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:18.706

19 Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:20.063

[Super Tourer]

2003 RACE REVIEW

Montoya won for Williams, breaking a jinx that had seen Williams fail to win at Monaco since 1983, some 20 years earlier, when Rosberg triumphed! JPM also became only the 2nd driver to win both the Monaco GP and the Indy 500.

Ferrari gambled on fuelling Michael heavier to run longer, this plan was scuppered as MS got caught behind Trulli’s Renault and lost a lot of time.

Ralf Schumacher was on pole and led the early laps, but lost out in the pitstops and found the car not to his liking on it’s 2nd set of tyres , an excursion at Rascasse cost him time, but not track position – he finished 4th.

Kimi was a close 2nd and DC 7th, losing out in traffic, plus the pitstops never really worked out for him – however showing what a difference a year makes – McLaren left Monaco leading the constructors championship…

It was a bad weekend for Button a violent crash in practice saw him unable to take any further part in the weekend; thankfully he was not badly injured.

Down at Ferrari Barrichello had a poor weekend; a weak qualifying blunted his race, Rubens admitting “I never managed to get the best out of the car”

It was a race dominated by the top 4 teams, who took all the points and lapped the entire field, this race not throwing up the often seen ‘freak’ result where unlikely contenders are able to benefit from trouble ahead and sneak into the points.





Read a full race review: http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr704.html




DRIVERS EYE

Take a lap of Monaco with Giancarlo Fisichella

http://www.pitpass.com/src/circuits/monaco.php







MONACO FLASHBACK

It’s impossible to think of Monaco without linking the names Ayrton Senna and Graham Hill, both drivers making the race their own in their respective eras, who will ever forget Senna in the Toleman reeling in Prost’s McLaren in appalling conditions back in 1984, a race he surely would have won if Jacky Ikxx hadn’t waved the red flag to stop the race early. Monaco is also known as the ‘business’ race, more deals are instigated at Monaco than anywhere else as team bosses wine and dine partners in the glamour of Monte Carlo, moving Bernie Ecclestone to say "This place gives us more than we give it,"

Despite track safety and general facilities that would see any other GP venues contract torn up, Monaco remains the Blue Riband event, so much so that it stands alone as THE race to win along with Le Mans and the Indy 500.



2002 – Michelin played their trump card as THE tyres to have. Ferrari struggled on their Bridgestones, playing catch up all weekend.

2001 – Coulthard’s pole position came to nought when a software problem left him stranded on the line on the parade lap and destined to trail Bernoldi’s Arrows for much of the race. Irvine secured a surprise 3rd place for Jaguar


1998 – Hakkinen lappped every one up to 4th place on his way to victory - including Michael Schumacher who finished 10th after suspension damage forced a pitstop for repairs.

1996 – Another Monaco one off result as Panis wins in his Ligier.

1994 - Karl Wendlinger suffered serious injuries when crashing at the Chicane in his Sauber.

1993 – Ayrton Senna wins his 6th Monaco Grand Prix.

1986 – The chicane is altered to slow the cars down.

1985 – Toleman buys Spirits supply of Pirelli tyres and enters one car for Teo Fabi.


1982 – It was a case of the last man standing was the winner, the end of the race developed into a farce as cars ran out of fuel and potential winners ground to a halt. Prost crashed, Pironi, De Cesaris and Daly were amongst the cars that ran dry. In the midst of this Patrese spun whilst leading, thinking all was lost he got going again and trundled over the line as the surprise winner – no one more so than Ricardo himself.

1973 – Alterations to the track - a new tunnel was built beneath the Loews Hotel and the track from Tabac to La Rascasse was altered to allow for the new swimming pool

1967 – Tragedy at the Chicane as Bandini is killed.

[Super Tourer]

RECENT WINNERS

2003 – Montoya
2002 – Coulthard
2001 – Michael Schumacher
2000 – Coulthard
1999 – Michael Schumacher
1998 – Hakkinen
1997 – Michael Schumacher
1996 – Panis
1995 – Michael Schumacher - Benetton
1994 – Michael Schumacher - Benetton
1993 – Ayrton Senna




FORM GUIDE

Recent performances from some of the contenders.

G = Grid position
P = Finishing Positing
Rtd = Retired
DNE – Not entered


Michael Schumacher
2003 – G5:P3
2002 – G3:P2
2001 – G2:P1
2000 – G1:Rtd


Barrichello
2003 - G7:P8
2002 - G5:P7
2001 - G4:P2
2000 – G6:P2

Montoya
2003 - G3:P1
2002 - G1:Rtd
2001 - G7:Rtd
2000 – DNE

R Schumacher
2003 – G1:P4
2002 – G4:P3
2001 – G5:Rtd
2000 - G9:Rtd

Coulthard
2003 – G6:P7
2002 - G2:P1
2001 - G1:P5
2000 – G3:P1

Raikkonen
2003 – G2:P2
2002 – G6:Rtd
2001 – G15:P10
2000 - DNE

Alonso
2003 – G8:P5
2002 – DNE
2001 – G18:P13
2000 – DNE

Trulli
2003 – G4:P6
2002 – G7:P4
2001 – G8:Rtd
2000 – G2:Rtd


Button
2003 – DNS Injured
2002 – G8:Rtd
2001 – G17:P7
2000 – G14:Rtd

[Super Tourer]

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 2004 RACE.

On arrival the team will be greeted by the new Monaco pit complex, replacing the
Outdated and cramped facilities – see the new complex here: http://www.itv-f1.com/news/news_story/20676


Onto the race, Monaco rewards inch perfect precision and punishes mistakes, no luxury of putting a wheel on the grass here, there isn’t any – off line is the barrier!

Monaco is about atmosphere, somehow the whole spectacle of the event increases as the cars edge the barrier, and the incredible noise is contained and magnified by the buildings that make up the backdrop to the circuit.

At this circuit you crank up the downforce, hope the brakes hold out and keep it away from the barriers. Overtaking is almost non-existent, who will forget DC trundling around behind Bernoldi’s Arrows for lap after lap; any moves have to be well executed as there is literally nowhere to go should it not work out.

Qualifying is key here and the one shot format particularly significant at Monaco, if you muck up here it’s a long and almost impossible haul from the back. If we look back at the recent winners, the lowest grid slot the race has been won from is 3rd, so we should see the front runners all looking to run a strategy that secures pole or a front row slot. In the past gambles on fuelling the car heavier have not always worked, if you get ‘trapped’ behind a ‘slower’ car the race is effectively over, at Monaco there is no real possibility of the strategy unwinding during the race, due to the traffic.

Of the possible contenders, the form guide shows that DC goes well at Monaco but may well be hampered by the McLaren unless improvements have been made since Spain. Of the Ferrari’s, Schumacher has won twice since 1998, but he hasn’t dominated the event recently as he has done at other tracks, so the usual Ferrari rhetoric about expecting a hard race may be right for once. Rubens has a poor-ish record around here, not qualifying higher than 4th and in the last two years only scraping 1 point.

Button is a bit of an unknown quantity around Monaco, having failed to start last year after his crash, and not having much in the way of results prior to that.

Most teams will be hoping that Renault don’t get the front row, if they do their explosive starts will make them easy leaders and could potentially see them record a 1st win of the season here. Trulli will still be on a high after the podium finish in Spain, could he carry the momentum to Monaco?

However, as usual no doubt Michael Schumacher will set the benchmark…


Circuit Map: http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitmap/719.html


Race website: Web: http://www.acm.mc






RACE TIMETABLE – all times are LOCAL time
.
http://www.formula1.com/race/timetable/719.html


NOTE: Practice takes place on Thursday at Monaco not the usual Friday sessions.


THURSDAY 20 May

11:00-12:00 Thursday Practice 1

14:00-15:00 Thursday Practice 2



SATURDAY 22 May

09:00-09:45 Saturday Practice 1

10:15-11:00 Saturday Practice 2

13:00 Saturday Pre-Qualifying

14:00 Saturday Qualifying




SUNDAY 23 May

14:00 Race - 78 Laps (13:00 UK time)



F1 Live timing: http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/719.html



TIME ZONE
Monaco is Daylight saving time (BST) + 1 Hour

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=674






WEATHER
Longer Term Weather Outlook from 14/05/2004
http://uk.weather.com/weather/local/...&code=code&y=3


Outlook
Thursday 20th May – Mostly Sunny 20 deg C
Saturday 22nd May – Showers 21 deg C
Sunday – 23rd May – Partly Cloudy 19 deg C



UK TV VIEWING – correct as of 14/05/2004

Saturday 22nd May – 12:30 pm to 14:15 pm - Qualifying LIVE - ITV 1
Sunday 23rd May – 12:05 pm to 15:15 - Race LIVE. – ITV 1


Please check times with your TV schedule or the motorsport press before recording this race!

[Super Tourer]

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS



2004 Drivers Championship



1 Michael Schumacher 50

2 Rubens Barrichello 32

3 Jenson Button 24

4 Fernando Alonso 21

4= Jarno Trulli 21

6 Juan Pablo Montoya 18

7 Ralf Schumacher 12

8 Takuma Sato 8

9 David Coulthard 4

10 Giancarlo Fisichella 2

11 Felipe Massa 1

11= Kimi Räikkönen 1

11= Mark Webber 1








2004 Constructors Championship



1 Ferrari 82

2 Renault 42

3 BAR-Honda 32

4 Williams-BMW 30

5 McLaren-Mercedes 5

6 Sauber-Petronas 3

7 Jaguar-Cosworth 1



10 Tenths Tyre Maker Standings

1. Michelin – 110
2. Bridgestone - 85

[Dick Spanner]

Excellent info as always ST. One thing that leapt out at me was that in 2001 Jenson Button finished 7th having started 17th. At Monaco that is incredible particularly as that was the race where as you point out, DC was stuck behind Bernoldi for most of the race!

[300kph]

Thanks ST...Very well done.