I hope Kimi can atleast qualify in the top 6. Then he could use a good strategy during the race. It looks like Mercedes is bound to qualify ahead. If they dont have that much race pace, they will bunch up all the of the cars. Kimi can use the same strategy as in Australia, he would have to safe the tyres and make them much last much longer then the people in front of him. Then he has to wait until they all pit, once they have pitted Kimi could have clear air and put in fast laps. While the people who has to pit earlier will most likely be caught in traffic, as the Mercedes bunched up the grid. The idea is about getting clear air and being fast in clear air.

So I hope Kimi can atleast get into the top 6 in qualifying.

You got your wish, Boudica. Kimi has also found the elusive clean side of the grid. But more importantly, has the advantage over Alonso into the first corner and the slow starting Webber just in front and to the left. A dream start would be getting by Webber and hoping Webber can hold up Nando's fast starting Ferrari!

You reckon lotus will try to one stop? I personally hope they can somehow make a few undercuts work to their advantage and use their tyre saving advantage to finish stints strongly with pace. I'm a little worried about the one stop. But vettel made it work last year..

P5 was not expected by me either! i'm very happy for Kimi " title="ii" />

Zitat

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2013 Monaco Grand Prix, Saturday 25th May

Kimi Räikkönen will start from fifth on the grid and Romain Grosjean thirteenth after an exciting rain-visited qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Following damage to his car in morning practice, a stellar effort from Romain’s crew saw the Frenchman back in action with just minutes of Q1 to spare, topping the times with his first lap on the drying track. Traffic in the Q2 session however denied him a higher starting position for tomorrow’s race.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03. Q: P5, 1:14.822. FP3: P6, 1:15.380

It was a difficult day today because of the weather, but it was the same for all of the drivers. Obviously, qualifying here is never the easiest with the traffic and the barriers and you’d always prefer it to be dry as it’s so slippery when it’s wet. I’m happy we made it through to the top ten and P5 was more or less the best we could do with seven tenths to the next fastest car. I’m not sure what we’ll do in the race; we don’t have a clear picture yet as you never know exactly what the strategies from everyone else will be, but for sure we’ll find out tomorrow.

Romain Grosjean, E21-02. Q: P13, 1:18.603. FP3: P2, 1:15.039

The team did an unbelievable job to get the car ready for me after what happened in P3 this morning; I’m extremely grateful to all of them. I really owe them today and I think that’s more drinks I will have to buy at the end of the weekend. We had the car to do something very good in qualifying, but I caught Daniel [Ricciardo] in Q2 when the track was getting drier and faster. I had just two laps on the slicks and we weren’t able to get through to the top ten which is really frustrating. What can you say? This is Monaco. We have seen different weather conditions and it is a unique circuit. We will see what happens in the race tomorrow.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“It was a disappointing session for us”

How was qualifying for the team?
It was a disappointing session for us. Firstly we need to say a big thank you to Romain’s crew for getting his car ready for qualifying in lightening quick time, and they were rewarded by a lightening quick first lap from their man. Unfortunately, traffic at the end of Q2 prevented him from getting into the top ten which was a great shame. Kimi has a reasonable position with P5 on the grid, but moving forwards up the order at Monaco is exceptionally difficult so any gains tomorrow will be hard won.

How difficult was it on the pitwall through qualifying?
Our car worked well in all conditions today so the weather wasn’t so much of a problem, we just had to ensure we had the correct tyres on at the right time. Finding clear track here is always difficult, no matter what the weather, and that’s what we saw with Romain today.

Romain’s Q1 lap was quite something?
It was an incredibly impressive lap. To go out in variable conditions with the pressure of only having a few minutes of the session remaining, and still manage to go P1 on your first lap is really quite an achievement.

What’s possible in the race?
Monaco is a very different circuit from any other, with the short lap length and traffic considerations meaning that there are not many viable options for different strategies. Add that to a dry weather forecast for tomorrow – plus the fact that it’s almost impossible to pass here – and we have a very difficult race in prospect. We will of course look at all possibilities and do what we can to get our cars to the front. It’s a very long race and we have seen fortunes change on a Sunday quite often thus far in 2013, so anything’s possible.

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Zitat von Sonny

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You got your wish, Boudica. Kimi has also found the elusive clean side of the grid. But more importantly, has the advantage over Alonso into the first corner and the slow starting Webber just in front and to the left. A dream start would be getting by Webber and hoping Webber can hold up Nando's fast starting Ferrari!

You reckon lotus will try to one stop? I personally hope they can somehow make a few undercuts work to their advantage and use their tyre saving advantage to finish stints strongly with pace. I'm a little worried about the one stop. But vettel made it work last year..

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Yeah I did, it almost went perfectly! As you rightly point out, Kimi just needs to stay ahead of Alonso. I dont think a one stop would be necessary, but if Lotus or Kimi is able to pull off a one stop at a competitive speed then it will be even better. It also depends on how fast Mercedes will be. If they are able to go fast in the first stint, and all of the cars spread over the track then it will be difficult. The idea is that Mercedes needs to bunch the cars up and keep them close together, until Kimi can get into clean air and put in some fast laps.

But we'll see how it goes, not everything always works out according to plan. I just hope that Alonso doesn't get pass Kimi. If they both do two stop strategies, then Kimi needs to stay ahead of Alonso.

Zitat von Ragingjamaican

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Raikkonen to get jumped by Alonso at the start, his start from last year springs to mind.

If not then pitstops, Lotus don't seem as sharp as Ferrari in my opinion, and they seem to stick to their plan.

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What do you mean by stick to their plan?

I think Kimi will be ahead of Alonso after the first turn. It's just a matter of keeping him behind before they descend down the hill towards the marina. Webber will hinder Alonso's progress. And Alonso, Schumacher and Grosjean proved last year that 3cars wide doesn't work at Monaco. Kimi just has to squeeze Alonso and use webber for defense.

You reckon lotus will 1-stop?