[Iceman]

They say that Formula One is a fast-moving business. No sooner than 45 minutes after Mark Webber's super victory at the Circuit de Catalunya were the F1 Paddock dismantling their sumptuous motorhomes and gigantic freight-carrying trucks to head down the A19 motorway north towards Monte Carlo.

Volcanic ash drifting over from Iceland meant that yet again, travel plans had been disrupted and many team personnel would have to forego a trip home before heading out to the small principality.

Hispania Racing team mates Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok took it upon themselves to hire a car and race down to the Riviera, whereas many of the other journalists and team members also chose the motorway as their method of travel.

However, as we push on into the fast-approaching Monaco Grand Prix weekend, it is Mark Webber and Red Bull who are still out ahead. The pace in hand from the Australian during yesterday's race was frightening, after his admission that he was taking it easy after half distance.

Despite Vettel's problems, he was also untouchable through qualifying and the first part of the race, albeit in a slightly less untouchable mood than his team mate who truly was in a different race. With no big updates forecast from any of the front-running teams, the running order should remain untouched with Dietrich Materschitz's team heading the grid.

The usual suspects will be in close attendance, with Mclaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all providing a sustained challenge after falling short in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton will be eager to compensate for his lack of points and smart money should be put on him to be very quick around the streets of Monte Carlo, having won once and finished second to a slower Fernando Alonso in 2007. Hamilton also showed signs of promise in 2009 despite the poor pace of the Mclaren last year, before putting it in the barriers in Q1.

Joining Mclaren in the fight for top honours will be Ferrari, who will be pleasantly surprised with Fernando Alonso's somewhat fortunate second position in Spain.

The Scuderia disappointed many initially with their relative lack of pace in relation to Red Bull and Mclaren, as there is no discernible reason for their lack of development. Similarly, Mercedes had brought a raft of updates to Barcelona only to see themselves finish over a minute behind eventual winner Mark Webber.

Michael Schumacher appears to be happier with the revised MGP-01, which will please the sponsors. However, Nico Rosberg's public displeasure with his car will raise a few eyebrows, especially from those who weren't particularly affectionate towards Ferrari during the Schumacher era.

Something to watch out for this weekend is the pace of the Renault. The car was faster than expected at Barcelona according to Robert Kubica, who suffered a damaged front wing in a first-lap collision which handicapped him for the remainder of the race.

The good levels of downforce on the Renault allied with it's excellent levels of traction will mean that they could spring a surprise on Sunday, and it isn't out of the question that they will join the battle at the front with the established teams for this one-off Grand Prix.

At the back of the grid, life goes on. Williams slipped dangerously close to the pace of the also-rans in Barcelona, before Rubens Barrichello made up for his poor qualifying performance to finish a creditable 9th, albeit with help from mistakes and retirements in front of him.

There is a 3 team scrap in the midfield with Toro Rosso and Force India also joining the party, it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top in the development race in that particular battle. With the rate of development exhibited last year, Force India will feel that they are underperforming and remain favourites to break free of the midfield scrap as we head into the summer.

No change at HRT, Lotus and Virgin, with the order unchanged since the beginning of the season. Around Monaco, expect shares in carbon fibre manufacturers to rocket.

Despite victory at his sole GP2 Monaco race meeting, Bruno Senna, Karun Chandhok and Lucas di Grassi have never sampled F1 around the tight confines of the circuit and could find themselves in trouble in such underperforming machinery.

Yet again, changeable weather conditions are forecast in Monte Carlo throughout the week. Saturday's qualifying is especially forecast to be a complete washout, which will play absolute havoc with 24 cars on track all trying to set a fast time.

The Q1 session promises to be the biggest spectacle of the weekend and it's more than likely that a number of big names could fall at the first hurdle. Thursday also marks the 60th anniversary of Formula One, let us hope that with such a fascinating championship battle unfolding before us, Monte Carlo provides us with the magic that only it can provide.

http://www.jamesrossionf1.com

http://www.yallaf1.com

[Iceman]

This coming Thursday marks the exact date, 60 years ago, that the first World Drivers' Championship race was completed.

This will be marked by a special commemorative event in Monte Carlo on Thursday evening by Total and Mumm Champagne, and what better Grand Prix for the anniversary to fall on, the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.

If anything, all Formula 1 fans can thank Adolf Hitler for being the catalyst of what we now call Formula 1 motor racing. The Second World War, if it achieved anything at all, drove great technological innovation to lengths that had not previously been seen.

Light, efficient power units came into being during the terrible times of World War Two which would later go on to influence automotive engine design in the years after the war.

It was initially the French who gave the world competitive motor racing, with the first known "race" being the Paris-Rouen Trial of 1894, a formally organised event that took up the reins of Benz and Daimler's foray into petrol-engined motor vehicles and turned it into a grand spectacle.

Yet it took until 1950, five years after the end of the Second World War, to first initiate a formal, global world championship that would encompass drivers and manufacturers from all over the world.

After the regulatory free-for-all of the late 1920s, when a certain apathy had grown over the motor racing community in Europe, the French institution that facilitated early Grand Prix racing (AIACR) decided that if this was considered to be a sport, then strict rules and regulations would be needed.

With a technical framework in place, 1950 was heralded as the first year of Formula One motor racing.

Giuseppe Farina was the winner of the 1950 British Grand Prix held at a vastly different Silverstone circuit, in a year when British and Italian manufacturers dominated the championship. Alfa Romeo won the title with Farina by three points from a young man named Juan Manuel Fangio, who would go on to become the second most successful driver in history in terms of championship wins.

Underlying this first worldwide concept of motor racing was the fact that it was Great Britain and Italy that led the way.

Powerhouses of European manufacturing, it was the likes of Alfa Romeo, Maserati, ERA, Vanwall, Cooper and later the German Mercedes marque that initially dominated the Grand Prix scene. In a sense, this is still the case today.

Tradition is the order of the day in Formula One, it is what underpins the customary things that we are used to such as the Monaco Grand Prix, the podium ceremony, and the contribution of Great Britain, Italy and Germany to Formula One.

There have been an abundance of changes to the look of our beloved sport since 1950, from the playboy and carefree participants of the 1960s and 1970s such as Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, and the monarchical Lord Hesketh to those who uphold the fundamental tenets of sportsmanship such as Stirling Moss.

Teams have come and gone, circuits have been utilised and dropped. It is heartening to see that throughout the decades as the sport has grown and adapted, the fundamental pillars of Formula One, the traditions and the customs, have been maintained.

It must touch the heart of all motor racing enthusiasts to see a Ferrari triumph at Monza, or a British driver storming to victory in Great Britain. Names have been deified and ruined in the blink of an eye.

The intense nature of Senna, to the calculating mind of Prost, to the flamboyancy of Hunt; Formula One is the amalgamation of emotions perpetrated by the aforementioned traditions and customs, aligned with the technological innovation and bodily limits that are pushed to the limit every race, every year. Long live Formula One!

[pinkmichk]

chandhok ending up backwards is exactly why i'm nervous

[pinkmichk]

and another through fingers moment with kobayashi into the barriers

[Iceman]

just saw the results happy with that. All the people complaining about Rosberg can suck my balls.............did he not just cope with this "schumi tailored" car brilliantly or what?

[pinkmichk]

i think schumi did good and i think it were crofty who said that schumi will be faster both last race and here cos the tracks really suit him
lewis was 7th not too fussed cos i reckon he'll have more pace in qualies

[Iceman]

yeah weird how we'll have no F1 coverage tomorrow, not sure i like thursday practices....

[Iceman]

This week marks the 60th anniversary of the very first round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, which was held at Silverstone on May 13, 1950. The British Grand Prix, which also had the title of 'Grand Prix d'Europe' bestowed upon it that year, was the first event in a seven-race season, which also featured rounds in Monaco, Switzerland, Belgium, France and Italy, plus the Indianapolis 500.

The Silverstone of 1950 was a far cry from the modern circuit we know today and there was little to disguise its airfield origins, with hay bales for barriers and scaffolding for stands. It may not have been glamorous, but that didnt stop motor racings international elite turning out. The event also had the royal seal of approval, with King George VI becoming the first reigning English monarch to attend the Grand Prix.

The powerhouse in the paddock was Alfa Romeo, who brought their all-conquering 158 cars and the formidable 'Three Fs' to pilot them - Argentina's Juan Manuel Fangio and Italians Nino Farina and Luigi Fagioli. Alfa were also kind enough to provide a fourth car for British ace Reg Parnell, who thus became the 100,000 crowds best hope of a home win.

The 44 year-old Farina, a protege of the great pre-war driver Tazio Nuvolari, dominated Thursday's and Friday's practice sessions, lapping the then 4.65-kilometre circuit at over 150 km/h in his 1.5 litre supercharged, straight-eight machine. His team mates were close behind, hence it was no surprise that Alfa Romeo went on to fill the grids four-car front row.

Best of the rest in practice, in what was very much a 'second division' behind the Alfas, was the Eton and Cambridge-educated Prince Bira of Siam for Maserati. Then came the first of the cars with normally-aspirated 4.5 litre power (the second of the two engine configurations allowed under the F1 regulations of the time), the French factory Talbot-Lagos of YG Cabantous and Eugene Martin.

The two other manufacturers present were English Racing Automobiles, better known as ERA, and another home contender, Alta. Between them they helped fill out an impressive 21-car grid, with Farina at the front and the Talbot-Lago of Johnny Claes at the rear, the British-raised Belgian's best time a full 18 seconds off pole.

Race morning - Saturday - started with a now unimaginable concept, as Alfa Romeo mechanics drove the teams four 158s the 20-odd kilometres by road from their Banbury base to Silverstone. The cherry-red machines proved an equally impressive spectacle on the track, dominating the Grand Prix from the outset, with Farina, Fagioli and Fangio playfully taking turns to lead in the opening laps as the rest of the field tried and failed to stay in touch.

Unable to keep up with the three flying Fs, Parnell maintained a comfortable fourth place, despite a collision with one of Silverstones infamous hares. Behind him the competition quite literally began to fall apart, with the ERAs of Leslie Johnson and Peter Walker the first casualties, followed by Martin's Talbot-Lago, all retiring with mechanical maladies.

After smooth pit stops for all four Alfas - smooth in 1950 meant 30 seconds or less - the race gradually developed into a showdown between team stalwart Farina and upstart Fangio, who had been signed for the 1950 season on the back of his spectacular (non-championship) F1 form the previous year. This early sign of what would ultimately become an intense rivalry ended when Fangio briefly lost control and broke an oil line, putting him out after 62 of the 70 laps.

His only real threat removed, Farina was able to ease off in the closing laps and, after almost two and three-quarter hours of racing, the Italian took the chequered flag 2.8s ahead of veteran compatriot Fagioli. Parnell was a popular third, albeit almost a minute down, followed by the Talbot-Lagos of Cabantous and Louis Rosier, both two laps off the lead.

Farina's win not only guaranteed him a place in the F1 history books, it also set the tone for a season which would see him go on to become the sport's first world champion, beating Fangio to the crown by three points, each driver having taken three victories.

That first Silverstone race may not have been a classic in the traditional sense, but its significance was immeasurable. Of those who competed that day, few probably imagined that the FIA Formula One World Championship would even exist six decades later, let alone become the world's most watched annual sporting series. Heres to the next 60 years...

[Iceman]

Two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso is no stranger to success in Monte Carlo, and on Thursday he took the top honours in both practice sessions. Alonso, his rivals, and senior team personnel reflect on their early progress in the Principality…

Ferrari
Fernando Alonso, P1 - 1:15.927, 1st; P2 - 1:14.904, 1st
“It’s only Thursday, so the main aim was to understand how the tyres work and get confident with the circuit. On this track a major set up change might give you half a tenth, but trusting your driving can see you gain half a second. We therefore worked on finding the right feeling with the car and on making it easy to drive. There is still a lot of work to do and quite a margin for improvement. The track conditions will get better by Saturday, given that so many cars from the different categories will be running over the next couple of days. I hope that in two days time I will again find a well balanced car. I can understand that there could be a level of pessimism after the show of strength from Red Bull in Barcelona qualifying, but we know that here, having the right set-up can make more of a difference than pure aerodynamic downforce and we already have a good baseline, given that last year, Kimi (Raikkonen) nearly took pole with a car that was far off the F10 in terms of its potential.”

Felipe Massa, P1 - 1:16.517, 5th; P2 - 1:15.120, 4th
“The situation is definitely very different to Barcelona. From one week to the next I have found a much more stable car which is easy to drive and has much more grip. I have to say I can only be happy with the F10 and the way things went today. Having said that, there is still a lot to do to be done to be as well prepared as possible for the rest of the weekend. The traffic could be a problem, especially in Q1 and we will have to try and manage the situation as well as possible. Here it is always difficult to get a perfect lap: there are so many slow corners where you can lose a lot of time, which you never get back. However, getting it right is really especially satisfying.”

Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal
“This weekend has got off to a positive start for us, but we are well aware that the result of free practice does not tell you much and that, especially on an untypical track like this, the situation can change rapidly. There is still a lot of work to do to be as well prepared as possible for qualifying and the race, but we can be reasonably confident in affirming that we will be in the hunt. Now we have over a day and a half ahead of us to fine tune every detail in order to get out every last bit of potential from the package we have at our disposal.”

Chris Dyer, Ferrari chief engineer
“I would say this was a good day. First of all, it’s always positive to be able to complete three hours of free practice around the Monaco track without doing any damage to the cars, which meant both drivers were able to work through their entire planned programme: we just had to shorten the time on some elements in the afternoon, because of the approaching rain. Both Felipe and Fernando said they were pleased with the handling of the car and managed to get both types of tyre brought here by Bridgestone to work well. Clearly, without knowing the fuel loads in the cars of our closest rivals, it’s hard to know exactly where we are compared to them, but I think I can safely say we should be able to fight for the top places on the starting grid.”

Mercedes GP
Nico Rosberg, P1 - 1:17.149, 11th; P2 - 1:15.013, 2nd
"Monaco is a very special and challenging circuit and we had a positive start to our weekend here today. We made good progress this afternoon after losing some time in the morning with a pushrod problem that we had to fix. The lap times looked quite promising in the second session and I felt very comfortable in the car. We were able to improve the set-up continuously and get the tyres working better as the session went on. So everything looks promising after the first day and I'm looking forward to getting on with qualifying on Saturday."

Michael Schumacher, P1 - 1:16.589, 6th; P2 - 1:15.143, 5th
"Today's practice was a lot of fun. You clearly have to say that Monaco is a very special place to drive and I really enjoyed it. I got back into the rhythm of the track, especially on the long runs, and I think we can be quite confident for tomorrow as the car is definitely quite reasonable to handle. The other teams who have a certain top speed advantage on other tracks at the moment do not have this advantage here, so the whole field comes a bit closer together which will make it a very interesting qualifying in my view. I am looking forward to it."

Ross Brawn, Mercedes GP team principal
"As always at Monaco, the track conditions evolved rapidly today and it was important to make full use of the available practice time. We lost some running with Nico this morning but he did well to come back and find reasonable solutions for the set-up. We followed our usual practice programme of set-up, fuel load and tyre comparisons today. Our low fuel pace seems reasonable but we have more work to do on high fuel before Sunday. Overall a reasonable start to the weekend and we are enjoying the unique challenge and working environment that Monaco provides."

Norbert Haug, vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
"Quite a promising start to the weekend for us today and certainly a different picture from what we saw last Sunday in Barcelona. Nico and Michael's lap times on both types of tyres with lesser fuel as well as during race simulation runs looked not bad at all. There is definitely more work to do before Saturday but so far so good."

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, P1 - 1:16.000, 2nd; P2 - 1:15.099, 3rd
“We did a lot of laps today, which is good as that’s important in Monaco. The car feels alright, but if you look at the times it’s difficult to judge where we are. One thing that’s clear it will be very, very tight over the weekend. The top four teams are split by a couple of tenths and fuel loads are not as important here, so it’s close. It looks challenging. Qualifying has been good for us at the last races and I hope it continues on Saturday.”

Mark Webber, P1 - 1:16.382, 4th; P2 - 1:15.620, 10th
“It was a pretty good day today - we went a bit early with the options to beat the weather and we’ve got a bit of work to do with the balance, but in general it was good. We’ve made progress in the low-speed stuff since last year. We saw indications of it in Singapore and Abu Dhabi and what we learned with the RB5 has rolled into the RB6. It will be tighter here than it was in Spain, it’s a special track - we know that. Saturday will be an exciting qualifying session for definite.”

Renault
Robert Kubica, P1 - 1:16.016, 3rd; P2 - 1:15.192, 6th
“I’m a big fan of street circuits so it was good fun driving around Monaco today, and things went pretty well for me during both sessions. We still have a couple of issues to work on with the balance of the car so it’s good that we have a free day tomorrow when we can look over the data. Hopefully we can improve the car a bit more before qualifying.”

Vitaly Petrov, P1 - 1:17.718, 14th; P2 - 1:15.746, 11th
“I enjoyed my first experience of Monaco in an F1 car. We spent the day working on the set-up and we changed a lot between the morning and the afternoon, which made the car much better. It’s a difficult track because you need to push hard all the time, the walls are very close and you have to concentrate hard to make sure you don’t make any mistakes. At the moment the balance is not too bad, but we still need to work on some things to improve the car before qualifying on Saturday.”

Alan Permane, Renault chief race engineer
“It’s been a very positive day for us with both drivers completing good mileage. Robert was the quickest car on the medium compound (prime) tyre, although he didn’t have such a good run on the super-soft, but we’ve no major concerns. As for Vitaly, this was his first time at Monaco in an F1 car and he did a very good job during both sessions, and has ended the day close to Robert in terms of pace. Today’s conditions were typical Monaco: dirty, dusty and constantly evolving throughout the day. There was some light rain towards the end of the afternoon session, but the forecast for Saturday and Sunday suggests that more rain is unlikely. The car is working very well, but it’s still not 100 percent and we’ve got to dial out some oversteer. Fortunately we have a free day tomorrow to look over the data to try and cure that.”

Force India
Adrian Sutil, P1 - 1:16.805, 9th; P2 - 1:15.460, 8th
“It was a very good day for me. I'm very happy with my performance and with the car. The set-up was really good and we didn't have to make any major changes over the day, which means there is not so much work for tomorrow and Saturday's final practice. The car is going very consistently and I could set good lap times so the end classification looks promising, but we can also be very satisfied about the pace of the long runs. We didn't have many problems with the tyre compounds here, just a bit of graining on the soft one, but it's under control and nothing to worry about. Overall I think we look pretty strong for a practice day and can be confident going into qualifying.”

Vitantonio Liuzzi, P1 - 1:17.704, 13th; P2 - 1:16.528, 15th
“It was a difficult Friday due to the traffic, as can be expected round here. It was tough with 24 cars in the field but you just need to have sensible driving from the others, particularly given the time differences between cars. But this isn't going to change - Monaco is always like this and it is always a bit of a gamble but we have to throw our lot in as well. Even though the final position is not optimum, overall we can be pretty happy as the car is very good on a high fuel load. We need to improve the balance on the low fuel runs as we still struggled a little with the rear end grip but in general I think we are in a better shape compared to the last race. We have quite a lot of data we can work on tomorrow to try to improve everything for Saturday.”

Dominic Harlow, Force India chief race engineer
“Our programme for today looked to concentrate on the super soft tyre long run performance after last year's race where the tyre suffered quite high degradation in the early stages. We were also looking at cooling and brake set-up for the race here, both of which will be important on Sunday. Because of the light rain arriving at the end of FP2, things were accelerated slightly, with us running the super soft tyre slightly earlier to ensure that we got the data we needed. The drivers made full use of the laps they had to get comfortable on the circuit and the areas of new surface seem to have improved the grip level slightly. If we handle the busy track correctly on Saturday we can look forward to a competitive qualifying performance.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India chairman and team principal
“Today we were very satisfied with the pace of our longer runs and the positions in both sessions were encouraging. However what we have seen is that the speed difference between the cars - sometimes up to five seconds - will make qualifying a lottery. We believe we have the potential to be right up there fighting for Q3 but we'll have to see how it goes in on Saturday. The right ingredients are there, we just need them to mix together in the right way.”

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, P1 - 1:16.857, 10th; P2 - 1:16.276, 12th
“It went well and I am quite happy with what we achieved in the two sessions. We had no technical issues at all, which is very good, as it meant I did a lot of laps. The new parts we have put on the car here seem to be working well. There is a big difference in behaviour between the two types of tyre: at the moment, the option seemed to develop quite a bit of degradation, although it might be less by the time we run again. It means we have quite a clear picture therefore of how to manage the tyres in the race. Anyway, here we have plenty of time to analyse what we need to do before Saturday, even if the rain at the end of the session meant it was harder to assess everything properly.”

Jaime Alguersuari, P1 - 1:17.991, 15th; P2 - 1:17.023, 18th
“It certainly felt different to last year, when I raced here in the World Series! It was a good testing day and even though I was stopped a bit before the end of my long stint in FP2 with a technical issue, I was able to complete a substantial number of laps. I think we know in what direction we must go to improve the car a bit more before qualifying and I should also pick up speed as I get more experience on the track. Both types of tyre suffered with degradation, but we have an idea what we can do on the car set-up side to deal with this.”

BMW Sauber
Pedro de la Rosa, P1 - 1:18.434, 17th; P2 - 1:16.599, 16th
"We covered all the mileage we wanted to, and made a lot of changes between the two sessions. We are heading in the right direction and have more ideas for Saturday. We can still make the car quicker, but we lose too much in the slow corners. Personally I started the first session quite carefully. The last time I was here was in 2002, so for me it was like learning a new track and I needed to get to know it again. For the second session I felt a lot more confident."

Kamui Kobayashi, P1 - 1:18.547, 18th; P2 - 1:16.818, 17th
"It is really difficult to drive here and I had a few moments. I think we had a reasonable set up from the beginning, but still it was difficult to find grip in the slow corners, which is our main problem. We will work and try to improve the set up."

James Key, BMW Sauber technical director
"Like any first day at Monaco, the track was obviously slippery at the beginning and tricky, so we just allowed the drivers to do their laps and get a feel for the car and the tyres. We did some set-up work in the morning and suffered a little bit from the grip level, but everyone had the same problem in that respect. In the afternoon we consolidated on what we found in the morning. We went through another programme on the prime tyres and then tried the option tyres, which worked pretty well by the time we ran them, because the track was in better condition. We then went on to some race simulation work. The race pace looked quite reasonable, however, there is work to do on our qualifying pace. That's what we will look at in detail for Saturday."

Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen, P1 - 1:19.606, 20th; P2 - 1:18.184, 19th
“Overall it was a very good Thursday on track. We completed both sessions without any problems and managed to complete all our programs. As soon as I got in the car on Thursday morning it felt good and throughout the day we've been able to improve it step by step, so we’re definitely going in the right direction. We tried both compounds of tyres and they're both working fine, and the long run with the soft tyres went without any problems, so that’s also pretty encouraging. We ended up pretty close to the car in front and anything can happen here so I’m looking forward to qualifying and the race. I'm really pleased with today’s performance and I think everyone in the team can be very happy with the job we're doing.”

Jarno Trulli, P1 - 1:19.902, 21st; P2 - 1:18.667, 21st
“It was a bit frustrating today as I lost time in the garage this afternoon, and didn’t really get the chance to push as I’d have liked on track. The times were coming down but unfortunately in Monaco every single minute you lose being on track is going to cost you a little bit throughout the weekend. Obviously I'm experienced, so on the driver's side it won't affect me but with the car we still need to find the right setup and the right balance. Despite this it's good to be here and to see Lotus Racing on track, as I know how much that means to a lot of the fans, and also to see that we continue to improve the car every time we get out on track.”

Mike Gascoyne, Lotus chief technical officer
“Today was a reasonably good day. Jarno's program this afternoon was cut short with an engine problem, although the engine in question was a high-mileage unit that reached the end of the line today. Heikki had no problems completing the planned program, with a good long run at the end, so overall the team had a good day. The cars are in good shape, and we’re pretty confident there’s more to come for Saturday.”

Jody Egginton, Lotus chief race engineer
“I think the session went quite well today. Heikki obviously put in a good performance, putting in some good times at the end and I think with the changing weather conditions we did a good job. Jarno was a little bit unlucky unfortunately with an engine issue which prevented him from completing the program but we completed a good deal of work and I think we're now looking ok for Saturday.”

HRT
Karun Chandhok, P1 - 1:21.853, 24th; P2 - 1:20.313, 23rd
“It felt really good to be back and drive an F1 car around the streets of Monaco. I really enjoy driving on this circuit. We managed to go through our program today quite successfully on both tyres. I managed to get up to speed quite quickly and maintained that through the sessions. There is still a gap to the other new teams so we have to work on that. We are lucky that we have the whole day off tomorrow so will be sitting with my engineers working hard to find the right balance for qualifying on Saturday.”

Bruno Senna, P1 - 1:21.688, 23rd; P2 - 1:22.148, 24th
“I have been looking forward to driving here in Monaco again since my GP2 win a couple of years ago and here we are finally. Today we have been working very hard to make the car work as well as possible around this bumpy street circuit. It’s not easy to be honest. The areas of car development needed on the 'normal' circuits we have raced on so far are magnified here in Monaco and the team has to work harder than ever to make the best of what we have got. I plan to get back on target on Saturday.”

Colin Kolles, HRT team principal
“Our drivers paid a high price for a small mistake. But they will improve on Saturday. We did some good preparation work for the race, but we could not find the right balance to make the most of the tyres and achieve an optimal lap time. We have a good basis to build on ahead of qualifying.”

Bridgestone
Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development
"Today we had good weather conditions in the morning and at the start of the afternoon practice session, however after that it became cooler and light rain fell on the track. In the morning the warm-up of the medium compound was quite good for this circuit and the track was showing good improvement before the rain started falling. I am happy that we were able to show that the allocation of the medium and super soft gave very reasonable performance today. Iis a challenge to predict the track condition as there is no F1 running tomorrow and we don't know what the weather will do. Initial conclusions from the data is that the super soft tyre should be able to last a reasonable distance if used at the start of the race, and the medium compound will deliver strong performance once it is warmed up. However, the track condition and weather have been very variable so far this week so we really face many unknowns."

More to follow.

[pinkmichk]

i dont like the thursday practise then wait til saturday it just seems so wrong

[Iceman]

yeah im sure it annoys drivers to escpecially with double race weekends.

[Iceman]

Qualifying Starts in half an hour!

[Iceman]

Alonso out of qualifying after broken chassis in P3

[Iceman]

webber on pole, then kubica then vettel, schumi 7th behind rosberg

[pinkmichk]

was there any drama apart from alonso? where did lewis qualify?

[Chels]

ah look it's gerrard butler ;D

[Scarlett.]

Quite an exciting race today, I feel bad for Jensen though

[Iceman]

Schumacher what a move....better get to keep the place, leave eyebrows in 7th! also i jumped and cheered when jensons engine went, one of the highlights of the race for me.

[Wildcat!]

Damn that race was boring. one of the worst monaco gp i have ever seen. I am really not sure about these new rules anymore. The fuelling, does add another dimension to sstrategy! Oh well, I hope it goes back next year.

[pinkmichk]

right i'm here i watched the race round a friends and now just watching the bbc3 coverage
not bothered by jenson retiring. hulkenberg and chandhoks respective crashes are exactly why the race terrified me i am glad those accidents werent more serious but bloody scary to watch all the same but i do still think monaco is on borrowed time in terms of drivers walking away from a crash there
wasnt in the slightest bit suprised at 4 safety cars
not happy that the red bulls were up there again but i'm happy with lewis finishing in 5th
i thought it were a good race although i did spend a lot watching through my fingers

[pinkmichk]

Fri 28 May 2010
Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30
Sat 29 May 2010
Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00
Sun 30 May 2010
Race 15:00

[pinkmichk]

schumi has lost the place

Schumacher penalised for Alonso safety-car passMercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher has been penalised by the Monte Carlo race stewards for his overtaking manoeuvre on Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in the dying moments of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Schumacher was handed a drive-through penalty, which is converted after the race into a 20-second time penalty, dropping him from sixth to 12th in the results.

Schumacher passed Alonso just as the safety car pulled in at the end of Lap 78. The FIA stewards, which included his old sparring partner Damon Hill, have deemed the German breached Article 40.13 of the Sporting Regulations, which states that “if the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking."

Mercedes will appeal the stewards' decision and a date for that appeal will be set in due course by the FIA. Schumacher’s demotion moves Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi, who had finished in 11th, into the points in tenth place.

[Wildcat!]

YEah I knew that about Schumi, and it was pretty obvious anyways!

And youre right, LOL! Monaco is scary, that circuit is so narrow, and the turns so sharp! If you ever play a F1 video game, you will know how bad that circuit is. Hard to go a few laps without crashing. I remember one race where less than 10 cars finished!

[pinkmichk]

i love it and hate it in equal measures its such a awesome track but i cant help but having bad feeling bout it
i've played on it not on a f1 game but something different and found it real hard so certainly wouldnt want to be doing it at 200mph lol

[Scarlett.]

Originally Posted by Wildcat!

YEah I knew that about Schumi, and it was pretty obvious anyways!

And youre right, LOL! Monaco is scary, that circuit is so narrow, and the turns so sharp! If you ever play a F1 video game, you will know how bad that circuit is. Hard to go a few laps without crashing. I remember one race where less than 10 cars finished!

I've played it on Gran Turismo once, and I hit every wall