Saturday

The Panasonic Toyota Racing team had the prospect of a difficult race after Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher qualified 14th and 20th respectively.

The Toyotas have been a regular fixture in the top 10 qualifying shoot-outs so far this season and the problems faced by the drivers further proved the very specific set-up requirements of Monte Carlo.

It just felt as if we didn’t have enough grip and that the car were maybe a bit too stiff,” Schumacher explained. Traditionally the Monaco circuit gets proportionally grippier the more tyre rubber that goes down and towards the end of Thursday practice Bridgestone’s supersoft ‘option’ tyre was coming into play. On Saturday morning, however, practice was wet, the circuit was washed clean and the rubbering in process began afresh. Neither Toyota driver felt that this helped their cause and Jarno was also affected by a brake problem as well as traffic on his quickest lap.

Senior General Manager, Chassis, Pascal Vasselon explained: “The performance factors in Monaco are completely different for the very simple reason that the average speed is very slow. Most of the circuit depends on the mechanical grip you can get from the tyres and so acceleration and traction are very important.”

“Outright engine power is less significant in Monaco than anywhere else and aerodynamic efficiency is not as important simply because of the very slow corners. You tend to run the car with the biggest wings you can to get maximum downforce. All teams come to Monaco with an aero package which gives downforce whatever the cost in drag. We will also make mechanical changes on the chassis to make sure we go around these slow corners. There are crowns on the road to consider and so you tend to run a higher ride height and with the car less stiff than usual to give better performance over the kerbs.”

“Then there are other factors, like the need to go around the tight hairpin, which demands more steering lock than usual. Monaco is also one of those circuits where the driver can have a bigger influence on the overall performance equation.”

“Since we started qualifying with race fuel loads we have a particular dilemma at Monaco. Historically, the best thing to do in Monte Carlo is to qualify in front because overtaking is so difficult and because you can lose a lot of time in the pack. That means going as light as possible with the fuel load in qualifying. But as overtaking is so difficult in Monaco, normally you have to go for a very long first stint. Now we still have to qualify in front and we still have to go as long as possible in the first stint – it is a clear conflict. If you want to have a long stint you will qualify worse. That’s why, at Monaco, you see very different strategies. Usually most of the cars make their first fuel stops within three or five laps, but in Monaco it’s more like 10.”

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The McLaren Mercedes team starts the Monaco Grand Prix from the front row of the grid with reigning champion Fernando Alonso on pole position for the second successive year. British rookie Lewis Hamilton has never lost in Monte Carlo, however, winning in both F3 and GP2, and hinted that he has a heavier fuel load than his team mate and was on track to take pole before being held up by Mark Webber’s Red Bull.

The Ferrari challenge looks like resting solely on the shoulders of Felipe Massa, who lines up third. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen clipped a barrier at the Swimming Pool section in Q2 and did not make it beyond the second session of qualifying. Starting 15th on the grid, the Finn faces a tough afternoon on a circuit where overtaking is acknowledged to be more difficult than anywhere else on the calendar.

Reigning constructors champions Renault achieved their best qualifying result of the season when Giancarlo Fisichella qualified fourth, ahead of Nico Rosberg, who also achieved the best starting position of the year for Williams.

In the BMW Saubers, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica start seventh and eighth, just behind Mark Webber’s Red Bull Racing car. However, the Q2 times, when the cars run in optimum conditions with light fuel, saw the BMW drivers very close to the McLaren pace, suggesting that they took a heavier fuel load in Q3 and could be well set strategically for a good result. Webber’s team mate David Coulthard, twice winner of the Monaco GP for McLaren, was penalised by the race stewards for impeding Heikki Kovalainen’s qualifying lap, while Rubens Barrichello’s Honda completed the top 10 qualifiers.