Canadian Grand Prix: First Practice

The first practice session for Sunday's Grand Prix got underway under stormy skies in Montreal, with few cars venturing out on track for the first 15 minutes or so of the session. It was raining quite hard, and the conditions out on track were extremely tricky, as evidenced by the performances of those who did try their luck. About half way through the session the rain stopped and the track began to dry out. Inevitably the times began to tumble, and in a very busy final five minutes it was Ferrari's Felipe Massa who took top spot.

The likes of Trulli, Fisichella, Alonso and Sutil were the first drivers to tip-toe out on track, and they were finding that traction was virtually non-existent. In the slow corners like the opening complex and the hairpin, the cars were chugging along as though they were driving on ice, such was the difficulty in getting any power down. Once they got a bit more accustomed to the conditions they tried to push a little bit, and Trulli was the first to find himself bouncing across the wet grass at the Turn 8 and 9 chicane. He wasn't to be the only one by any means, and indeed Trulli himself had more off track excursions than any other driver on track.

The big hitters were choosing to keep their powder dry early on, leaving the smaller teams to clean the track up a bit before they headed out. The only driver from the "big 3" teams to go out early on was Heidfeld, and he immediately went fastest. Those in the crowd who came to see the likes of Raikkonen and Hamilton would have been slightly disappointed by the lack of running from McLaren and Ferrari. Indeed, Hamilton turned just 8 laps in the session (the fewest of anybody) on his way to P6 on the time sheets.

His teammate Kovalainen was the second quietest driver out on track with just 10 laps under his belt, although his 3rd place proves that the McLaren has plenty of raw speed here. Kubica and Raikkonen each drove 12 laps, finishing 2nd and 5th respectively. The busiest of the headline drivers was also the fastest, as Felipe Massa took the honours in this first session. The session wasn't without its dramas for Massa though, as he went skidding through the wet grass at one point towards the end of the session as the drivers started to switch to dry tyres.

The Red Bulls, Williams and Renaults seemed pretty evenly matched (Nelson Piquet Jnr excepted). Vettel added another impressive session to his already glowing CV by beating the likes of the Hondas and Toyotas. The Toyotas drove more laps between them than any other team, and by some margin. It didn't appear to do them much good in terms of lap times though as they languished down in 13th and 14th place. The Hondas looked even worse throughout the session. Button and Barrichello both spent time in the grass run-offs, and they finished the session with a dismal 18th and 20th (last) place.

So first blood to Ferrari, but there was so little running in the session it is difficult to draw any conclusions from this session about how things will shape up in qualifying tomorrow...

Times

01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:17.553 14 laps
02 R. Kubica BMW 1:17.809 12 laps
03 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:18.133 10 laps
04 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:18.182 13 laps
05 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:18.292 12 laps
06 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:18.303 8 laps
07 M. Webber Red Bull 1:18.712 11 laps
08 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:18.809 12 laps
09 K. Nakajima Williams 1:18.971 24 laps
10 F. Alonso Renault 1:19.005 13 laps
11 N. Rosberg Williams 1:19.093 20 laps
12 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:19.228 21 laps
13 T. Glock Toyota 1:19.346 28 laps
14 J. Trulli Toyota 1:19.568 31 laps
15 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:19.815 16 laps
16 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:19.888 15 laps
17 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:20.091 23 laps
18 R. Barrichello Honda 1:20.173 17 laps
19 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:20.541 16 laps
20 J. Button Honda 1:21.542 17 laps Read more!

Canadian Grand Prix: Preview

After the thrills and spills of a soaking wet Monaco two weeks ago, the Formula One circus crosses the Atlantic for its one and only trip to North America this season. As well as all the technology and speed, the glitz and glamour, and the controversy, Formula One appears to have brought the wet weather from Monaco with them to Montreal. The predictions are for scattered thunderstorms throughout the course of the weekend, mixed in with some high humidity and occasional sunshine. We could very well have our second wet race in succession!

With the controversy relating to FIA President Max Mosley still circulating the media, the F1 teams, manufacturers and drivers will be glad to get back to motor racing and hopefully making the headlines for all the right reasons. This time last year the Canadian Grand Prix made big headlines for two main reasons; firstly the debut victory of McLaren prodigy Lewis Hamilton, and secondly Robert Kubica's miraculous escape from a horrific mid-race accident.

There have been some much needed modifications to the track and the safety barriers that line the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve which will hopefully reduce the chances of another monster crash. Work has also been undertaken to try to improve the track surface itself, which has caused severe problems for the past two Grand Prix here as the surface breaks apart due to the heavy use from the F1 cars and all the support racing. The surface hasn't been fitting of the world's elite motor racing competition for some time now, but hopefully those problems will have been successfully remedied this weekend.

Lewis Hamilton returns to the circuit that holds so many happy memories for him after taking the lead in the World Championship standings last time out in Monte Carlo. The Ferrari duo of Massa and Raikkonen will be looking to hit back at McLaren after a disappointing race in Monaco, and they are the pre-race favourites to be on the top spots of the podium this weekend. Monaco suited the McLaren car, but the long straights here in Montreal should suit the Ferraris perfectly. Lewis Hamilton has already spoken of his worries over the superior straight-line speed of the red cars.

If the race does indeed turn out to be wet, then it could be another rare opportunity for some of the minnows at the back of the pack to make a name for themselves. Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Vettel were the two youngsters who shone in Monaco; will someone else get the chance to shine on Sunday? We'll have to wait and see... Read more!

Monaco Grand Prix Race Report: Tears and Cheers on the Streets of Monte Carlo

Lewis Hamilton has taken his first victory on the wet streets of Monaco in a truly epic two-hour race. It was a race of drama, of bravery, of fortune and of heartbreak as the often processional race in Monaco was transformed by the changeable conditions. The win moves Hamilton to the top of the standings as current leader Raikkonen had a dismal race for Ferrari, much to his own cost and that of the true hero of the race Adrian Sutil.

The drama of the race began way before the allotted 2pm start time. With around half an hour to go before the start the track was fairly dry and there was no rain in the air, but everyone could see the rain clouds closing in rapidly from the mountains above Monte Carlo. The key question would be one of tyre choice, and all teams and drivers were leaving it as late as possible to make their decision as the rain finally began to fall with just minutes to go before the start. Some were even to leave it TOO late, as we would find out later.

In the end everyone bar Nelson Piquet began the race on Intermediate wet tyres, which seemed like the right choice given the greasy conditions. As they began the formation lap disaster struck for Heikki Kovalainen as his car appeared to stall on the grid. His pit crew pushed him frantically back to the pits so they could restart him at the back of the field. After his accident in practice he did a superb job to get his car onto the second row, but all that good work was undone in an instant.

The start would be a voyage into the unknown for the whole field, as they attempted a racing start in the wet for the first time since the ban on traction control. Off the line Massa and Hamilton both got away superbly, but Raikkonen caught too much wheelspin and bogged down off the line. By St Devote Hamilton was ahead and Raikkonen sensibly let him slot into the Ferrari sandwich. Thankfully, good sense prevailed throughout the field and nobody tried to be hero into that treacherous first corner. There was no contact or incident to speak of, for which all the drivers deserve huge credit.

As the drivers tip-toed around the opening couple of laps to get a feel for the circuit it was immediately apparent who was looking the most confident. Massa and Hamilton both began driving away from the rest of the field. Kimi Raikkonen in third looked distinctly unhappy in the slippery conditions and was much slower than his team mate and his other title rival Hamilton. Nick Heidfeld made an excellent start and was up to seventh and last year’s winner Alonso was showing his Monaco experience with some impressive early pace.

One of the heroes of qualifying Nico Rosberg was the first man to have an incident, and it was to be the first of many for the young German. He nudged the back of the car in front at the Loewes Hairpin and broke his front wing. The next major incident was for the pre-race favourite Lewis Hamilton who slid wide on the exit of Tabac and punctured his rear tyre on the Armco barrier. It seemed like disaster early on for the young Brit as he limped back to the pits, but such was the pace of the front two early on he was able to rejoin in fourth place after new tyres and a splash of fuel.

Alonso was pushing like mad, and put a superb move on Webber into Mirabeau. However, his over-confidence in the wet was soon to cost him as he slid into the barriers at the top of Massenet. He got away with it with just a broken rear wheel and no suspension damage. He came in to pit and decided on a full wet tyre, as the rain was worsening. In terms of pace it proved the right choice, but he was unable to exploit the advantage as he had lost so much track position after his crash.

Alonso wasn’t the only man to struggle at Massenet, as first Coulthard then Bourdais slid off into the barriers in quick succession. There was no reprieve for either driver as both cars were wrecked and the safety car was required to assist in the clearing of debris. Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen was given a drive through penalty for not having his tyres on the car three minutes before the start of the race. It was an awful school-boy error from the Ferrari team. Kimi stayed out for as long as possible to minimise the hit from his penalty, but is was still costly for him.

As the race settled down again Massa was leading Kubica who was impressing in the BMW. Felipe was looking strong but a slight loss of concentration on the way into St Devote was to cost him dearly. He out-braked himself slightly and ended up down the escape road. He spun the Ferrari round quickly, but not quick enough to save him from losing his race lead to Kubica.

While all eyes had been at the front of the field, and on those who were hitting the barriers, young Adrian Sutil had incredibly crept his way up into sixth place in the Force India. He kept his head while many other more experienced drivers were losing theirs, and showed some superb car control to man-handle his sluggish Force India up the grid. It was a great performance from the youngster, and looked in a strong position to get some decent points.

At the back end of the grid it was somewhat bizarre to see some world class drivers in quick cars battling it out fiercely for 13th, 14th and 15th place. Kovalainen, Alonso, Heidfeld and Rosberg were all in close company, along with Jenson Button and the two Toyotas. Glock had a particularly eventful race; he ended up beating his team mate despite having THREE spectacular spins throughout the race. A very lucky boy indeed.

With the clouds clearing and the sun beginning to shine, there was a distinct dry line beginning to show. It was getting towards the time where someone will take a gamble on dry tyres. Fernando Alonso was to be the guinea pig for the rest of the drivers as he skidded his way out through the pitlane puddles on grooved tyres to rejoin the race. After a scary moment on the Swimming Pool exit he gradually got his act together and was starting to show some pace. Piquet was the next to go to grooves. The rookie though barely made it through a single lap before binning his Renault at St Devote.

Webber was next up, and although the tyres gradually came to him he probably blinked too soon as he lost a position to Sutil, who was now sitting in an incredible fourth place. While all this had been going on Lewis Hamilton had quietly managed to cruise away at the front of the field. Incredibly, that early crash had actually worked in his favour as the extra splash of fuel he was able to put in was allowing him to stay out much longer than anyone else. Is lead was close to 40 seconds by the time he had to pit for dry tyres, and was able to emerge comfortable in front of the rest. Massa was fuelled to the finish but the strategy was not working for him as he had to make an extra stop for dry tyres and lost track position to Kubica.

It now looked like a straightforward cruise to the finish for Hamilton on a nicely drying track. However, his good friend Nico Rosberg soon put paid to that notion by proving that the track was still dangerous by stepping off the dry line at the Swimming Pool and slamming into the wall twice at speed. His car was a write off, and the safety car was needed to clear the masses of debris, although thankfully he was completely unhurt.

The field was bunched up again, and there would be a 10 minute sprint to the finish in the dry conditions. Hamilton got a great start from behind the safety car and started to pull away from Kubica. The young Pole seemed more concerned by his mirror-full of Ferrari than the McLaren up ahead.

Sutil was just a handful of laps away from a real fairy-tale result in fourth place, but would have his work cut out to keep a Ferrari at bay on the dry tyres. His job was cut cruelly, heartbreakingly short though, as Raikkonen lost it under braking for the chicane and clattered into the back of Sutil, breaking the rear end of his car. While Kimi was able to pit and continue to the end, Sutil’s day was done. Understandably he was utterly inconsolable in the pits. Kimi will certainly have some grovelling to do next time they see each other, as it really wasn’t clever driving from the World Champion.

So after two hours of frantic action, Lewis Hamilton was able to clinch his hard earned first ever Monaco victory in very trying circumstances. He will be the first to admit that he was a bit lucky after his crash, but I’m sure that won’t dampen his celebrations in the slightest. Kubica took an excellent second place, but will perhaps feel a little aggrieved as he was the only one of the top three who didn’t make a single mistake. The other two on the podium both made errors, but got away with them. Massa will be slightly disappointed to come away with third after starting from pole, but it was still a strong performance on probably his least favourite track, so not too bad overall.

As Hamilton now takes over the championship lead, I think the key question to emerge as the dust settles will be who from Ferrari will mount the biggest challenge to McLaren and Hamilton? Raikkonen is the team leader and reigning champion, but in the last few races he has been comprehensively out-performed by Massa. Today in particular was an awful day for Kimi. He made mistakes, but even worse than that looked slower than his team mate most of the afternoon and didn’t look confident at all. Massa is clearly the man of form. Will Ferrari be considering putting more weight behind a Massa title push? One more result like this for Massa and I think they will have to seriously consider it…


1. Hamilton
2. Kubica
3. Massa
4. Webber
5. Vettel
6. Barrichello
7. Nakajima
8. Kovalainen
9. Raikkonen
10. Alonso
11. Button
12. Glock
13. Trulli
14. Heidfeld
Ret Sutil
Ret Rosberg
Ret Piquet
Ret Fisichella
Ret Coulthard
Ret Bourdais
Read more!

Monaco Grand Prix: Qualifying Report

On form Felipe Massa secured something of a shock result in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix by taking pole position. The boy from Brazil, who claims he hates the Monaco street circuit, beat the much fancied McLarens and his teammate Raikkonen with whom he will share an all Ferrari front row. Massa himself appeared as surprised as anyone during the press conference, as he was clearly thrilled with his own performance. Raikkonen looked considerably less impressed though, as most would have expected him to beat Massa comfortably. Is Massa emerging as a genuine favourite for the title?

It had been predicted all week long that the McLarens would be the cars to beat in Monaco, with their superior traction and stability over the kerbs. Few would have predicted anything other than a Hamilton pole position, yet he will have to settle for third place behind two Ferraris. Interestingly, throughout the afternoon Hamilton was massively quicker than anyone during the first sector but couldn't maintain it over the course of a full lap. Either his set up isn't quite right for the second half of the lap, or he was cooking the tyres too early in the lap and losing pace later on. Of course, we will have to wait and see what the situation is regarding fuel loads in tomorrow's race. Have McLaren gone too conservative in their race strategy? Have Ferrari been too aggressive? Or was it just a case of the red cars being quicker than the silver ones?

Robert Kubica had an excellent qualifying session, finishing just thousandths of a second away from a place on the second row. He will share the third row with Nico Rosberg, who has so far been the star of the weekend in the Williams. Rosberg fell short of upsetting the big boys as he had threatened to do earlier in the weekend, but P6 is an fine performance all the same. Fernando Alonso will struggle to make it a hat-trick of Monaco victories from P7 in his extremely tail-happy Renault. Interestingly he chose to stay on the harder tyre throughout qualifying as he didn't like the balance on the softs. That could cause problems for him if the weather stays dry and he needs to use the option tyre in the race. Trulli is 8th while Webber is in a solid P9 ahead of his teammate Coulthard.

DC didn't make it out onto the track in Q3 after binning his Red Bull spectacularly while braking into la Nouvelle Chicane in Q2. The car snapped right violently as he jumped on the brakes at over 180mph, and he speared into the armco and slid off down the escape road at great speed. Whether it was just a case of the rears locking up over the vicious bumps down there, or some kind of mechanical failure at the rear of the car remains to be seen. Compatriot Jenson Button had a similar kind of accident here in a BAR in 2003 and ended up being carried from the cockpit unconscious and stretchered straight to hospital after hitting the old tyre wall down there, but no such worries for DC. He narrowly missed the tyres and went straight down the escape road, such are the fine margins here at Monaco. Button's 2003 accident HERE..

Button himself will start in 12th alongside Timo Glock's Toyota in 11th place. Nick Heidfeld was 13th for BMW, which was arguably as big a surprise as Massa's pole position. We will have to wait and see whether there was a problem for Heidfeld, as his BMW should have been at least in the top ten. Nakajima is 14th after being comprehensively thrashed by his Williams teammate Rosberg, ahead of Rubens Barrichello.

No major surprises as to who went out in the first qualy session with both Toro Rossos and both Force Indias missing out. Piquet was the man to join them, which is no great shock as he has looked like the guy struggling the most to cope with the demands of the Monaca circuit, from his spin in Thursday practice to his erratic qualifying performance.

Almost the very instant the F1 cars returned to their garage after qualifying the rain began to fall in Monaco for the second GP2 race. It is looking increasingly likely from the forecasts that tomorrow will indeed be a wet race, and that will really be a wildcard factor for everybody on the grid. Normally qualifying strongly will virtually guarantee you a strong finish at Monaco (reliability worries excluded), but in the rain nothing is certain. Without traction control it will be treacherous for the drivers, particularly if there is standing water from the start on the run up to the first corner. It will be even more interesting if the race isn't wet throughout. If it starts dry and turns wet later on, or vice-versa, it could easily throw the teams' meticulously planned strategies out of the window. It should be fascinating to watch.

Provisional Starting Grid

1. Massa
2. Raikkonen
3. Hamilton
4. Kovalainen
5. Kubica
6. Rosberg
7. Alonso
8. Trulli
9. Webber
10. Coulthard
11. Glock
12. Button
13. Heidfeld
14. Nakajima
15. Barrichello
16. Bourdais
17. Piquet
18. Vettel
19. Sutil
20. Fisichella
Read more!

Monaco Grand Prix: Practice Two

Lewis Hamilton signaled his and McLaren's intent to return to winning ways with a blistering lap to take the top spot in Thursday's second free practice session. His 1:15.1s lap put him almost a full four tenths of a second ahead of the rest. The man who took the spot behind Hamilton wasn't either his teammate or a Ferrari driver. It was Williams' Nico Rosberg, who was proving his form in the first session was no fluke. The young German is on fire so far in Monaco, and he will no doubt have raised a few eyebrows in the paddock.

Kimi Raikkonen followed up his fine performance in first practice with a solid third place for Ferrari ahead of Massa, Kovalainen and Kubica. Kubica's BMW though was a full 1.1 seconds behind Hamilton's time, which will be disheartening for them after their poor showing in Turkey. Perhaps BMW are beginning to wane after their excellent early season pace?

Fernando Alonso was seventh, but it was a rather eventful session for Alonso and indeed the whole Renault team. Firstly Nelson Piquet spun at the apex of St Devote and went backwards into the tyre barrier. Fortunately he was able to driver himself out of the barrier, but his rear wing was damaged and needed replacing. Then shortly after that Fernando Alonso also lost the back end going through St Devote. He would on the opposite lock, but was eventually saved from spinning by his rear end clipping the armco barrier. He was able to keep the car pointing the right way up the hill, but ended up losing his rear wing in the process. The session was red flagged to clear the debris.

Adrian Sutil was another driver who tasted armco in this session. He caught too much kerb in la Rascasse and bounced into the barrier on the corner exit, damaging his front wing. In truth, both the Force Indias and Toro Rossos have struggled badly so far. Teams with their limited budgets and resources aren't able to prepare unique suspension set ups in the multi-million pound simulators like the big teams do, and they struggle with the unique demands of the Monte Carlo bumps and kerbs.

Elsewhere, David Coulthard finally got some track time under his belt after the team fixed what turned out to be a throttle problem in first practice. He finished in 14th place, just behind his teammate Webber. The Hondas have looked pretty decent so far in practice, with both drivers in the top ten in this session. They look fairly evenly matched on pace with the likes of the Renaults here, which is good news for the Japanese squad.

So the drivers now go for their day off on Friday (the only circuit where that happens), while the teams will no doubt be hard at work preparing their cars and doing the maths for the all important race strategies. The action will recommence on Saturday with a morning practice session, and then the qualifying session which is perhaps more important here than at any other circuit.

Practice Two Times

01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:15.140 40 laps
02 N. Rosberg Williams 1:15.533 39 laps
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:15.572 42 laps
04 F. Massa Ferrari 1:15.869 37 laps
05 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:15.881 39 laps
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:16.296 34 laps
07 F. Alonso Renault 1:16.310 27 laps
08 J. Button Honda 1:16.351 45 laps
09 K. Nakajima Williams 1:16.372 40 laps
10 R. Barrichello Honda 1:16.418 32 laps
11 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:16.426 44 laps
12 T. Glock Toyota 1:16.688 46 laps
13 M. Webber Red Bull 1:17.094 39 laps
14 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:17.131 39 laps
15 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:17.246 35 laps
16 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:17.251 33 laps
17 J. Trulli Toyota 1:17.379 28 laps
18 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:17.581 38 laps
19 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:18.176 31 laps
20 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:18.225 38 laps Read more!

Monaco Grand Prix: Practice One

Kimi Raikkonen took first blood in the opening practice session of the Grand Prix weekend, beating the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen into second and third respectively. Felipe Massa took fourth for Ferrari as the two big teams looked in a class of their own at the front of the field. Nico Rosberg produced the surprise of the session, getting his Williams into P5 ahead of the likes of the BMWs.

Practice One got underway with the Monaco harbour bathed in beautiful Mediterranean sun. with no sign of any rain. There were major incidents as the drivers seemed to take things pretty tentatively in this first session while the track rubbered up a little. There was the odd lock up here and there, but no real spins or crashes.

The biggest drama of the session came about an hour in when the session was red-flagged. It wasn't for any accidents or breakdowns though. Several drivers had complained about a drain cover coming loose on the uphill run out of St Devote. After inspection from the race director a welder was called for and the problem fixed. Hopefully that will be the last problem of its kind to worry about, but it was certainly a strange one. The organisation and preparation for this race is usually absolutely meticulous and perfect.

As the session progressed it became clear that the drivers were favouring the harder of the two tyres. Bridgestone has brought some of its softest compounds to Monaco this weekend, but it seems the drivers are struggling to get more than a lap or two out of the option tyre. They're just too soft for the abrasive nature of the track. It will be interesting to see how this affects race strategy when all drivers will be forced to drive at least one stint on these super-soft tyres.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli ended his session by pulling off into the escape road after his car started smoking as it went through the tunnel. Nick Heidfeld was another to run into difficulties as he parked his BMW in Casino Square with a mystery technical gremlin. David Coulthard barely made it out of the pits in his Red Bull, just doing a few sighter laps and not even setting a time.

Practice One Times

01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:15.948 26 laps
02 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:16.216 26 laps
03 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:16.248 27 laps
04 F. Massa Ferrari 1:16.292 25 laps
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.653 27 laps
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:16.653 27 laps
07 F. Alonso Renault 1:17.498 25 laps
08 R. Barrichello Honda 1:17.511 26 laps
09 M. Webber Red Bull 1:17.798 22 laps
10 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:17.883 26 laps
11 T. Glock Toyota 1:17.942 26 laps
12 J. Button Honda 1:18.153 25 laps
13 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:18.245 30 laps
14 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:18.263 13 laps
15 K. Nakajima Williams 1:18.274 28 laps
16 J. Trulli Toyota 1:18.360 16 laps
17 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:18.360 25 laps
18 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:18.955 32 laps
19 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:19.176 35 laps
20 D. Coulthard Red Bull no time 3 laps Read more!

Monaco Grand Prix: Preview

After the thrills and spills of Istanbul, the glamorous centre-piece of the Formula 1 season is upon us - the 66th running of the Grand Prix de Monaco. With the ban on traction control for 2008, the bumpy street circuit in Monte Carlo has been the most eagerly anticipated race of the year. The track will once again be Formula One's greatest challenge for a driver, with no nannying electronics to bail them out of trouble, and the armco barriers that line the course being as punishing as ever. This will be especially true if the rain showers that are predicted for Saturday and Sunday materialise!

The Monaco circuit couldn't be a greater contrast to the circuit in Istanbul last time out. The perfectly manicured track, with its wide and super-fast sweeping corners and enormous run-off areas are being swapped for the dirty, bumpy, oily and painfully tight and twisty streets of the Principality. This is one of the few races of the season where traction and suspension compliance play as big a role as engine power and aerodynamic grip, if not more. Make a mistake in the fast corners at Istanbul and you have yards and yards of run-off tarmac to bail you out. Make a mistake in Monaco and you will be greeted with the armco barriers.

As such, it has been predicted that the McLaren cars will be the most suited to this track. Whilst the Ferraris appear to have the advantage on the 'normal' race tracks, the McLaren is deemed to be the best car on the grid at riding the kerbs and bumps. Of course, this is all just guess work from the pundits and Ferrari will undoubtedly still be strong. Plus this is one of the few tracks where driver skill will really make a significant difference, so having the best car may not count for everything come race-day.

Fernando has been the guy on form here in recent years, winning the last two Grand Prix consecutively. However, he will be in an inferior Renault car this year around and he will struggle to make it a hat-trick. One feels his best chance will be if rain falls. Lewis Hamilton was second here last time out, and has professed that this is his all time favourite circuit. He always excelled here in his Formula 3 and GP2 days, and drove pretty well here last year. If McLaren do indeed have the best package then Hamilton will surely be the man to beat.

Kimi Raikkonen is a past winner here, back in 2005 in a McLaren. He will have a great chance of doubling his Monaco tally here, although Ferrari seem to have had a strange hoodoo at this circuit in recent years. Despite being a dominant force in F1 for years they haven't taken the chequered flag here since Michael Schumacher in 2001. Felipe Massa will have a job on his hands to repeat his Turkey success here as he is one of the drivers who is struggling the most with the loss of traction control. He may struggle even more if it rains. Still, he may yet upset the form books.

The other two former winners in the field this year are Jarno Trulli and two-time winner and Monaco resident David Coulthard. However, neither driver will be expected to challenge for podiums here. Both drivers will be hoping to get themselves into the points for Toyota and Red Bull respectively, although the battle in the midfield will be as fierce as ever.

If the rain does fall as some have predicted, then we could have a real spectacle on our hands. The last wet race in Monaco was in 1996 and only FOUR cars made it over the line, with Olivier Panis scoring one of the biggest shock victories in F1 history in Ligier-Mugen-Honda. Another notable wet Monaco race was in 1984 when the race was abandoned after 31 laps with just 9 cars still running, and the numbers falling rapidly. That race was of course most fondly remembered as the day that youngsters Ayrton Senna and Stefan Bellof stunned the F1 world with their pace and their bravery in the wet. Sadly neither man is still with us, god rest their souls... Read more!