F1 Monaco GP 2009

[DooberRoni]

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk279/DooberRoni/MonPostBan2.png
© images & logos property of their respective owners - graphic composition © DooberVille.com

A little extra history this week since it's so historic! Wow! Look at those names!

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk279/DooberRoni/MonHist1.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk279/DooberRoni/MonHist2.jpg
Courtesy of wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco_Grand_Prix)

Hey don't forget! Monaco/Monte Carlo takes Friday off. Practice is on Thursday so don't miss it! This is the most unusual and strange race of the year and even though it can be a parade, it is one of our favorites. We'll be online live, or at least that crazy chick Über will be, for practice, qualifying and the race. Don't forget to check the DooberVille website for all the latest F1 headlines.

We're going to toss in a map this week too just so we can see all those great corner names before we hear them on the show.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk279/DooberRoni/MonMap.jpg

[ÜberDoober]

Up at 5:00 this fine Thursday morning to catch Practice 2 live on SPEED. Weather looks great and the forecast for the weekend looks perfect.

PRACTICE 1 RESULTS
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:17.189 25
2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:17.499 + 0.310 31
3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:17.578 + 0.389 25
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:17.686 + 0.497 29
5. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:17.839 + 0.650 30
6. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:18.000 + 0.811 29
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:18.024 + 0.835 27
8. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:18.080 + 0.891 27
9. Alonso Renault (B) 1:18.283 + 1.094 30
10. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:18.348 + 1.159 22
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:18.695 + 1.506 36
12. Piquet Renault (B) 1:19.204 + 2.015 36
13. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:19.233 + 2.044 16
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:19.255 + 2.066 30
15. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:19.534 + 2.345 27
16. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:19.560 + 2.371 20
17. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:19.579 + 2.390 22
18. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:19.600 + 2.411 23
19. Glock Toyota (B) 1:19.698 + 2.509 23
20. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:19.831 + 2.642 28

Inside Grand Prix is on for the first of the 19 times it's aired this weekend and they showed a little video game action.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/F1video.jpg

There's no on track action on Friday but F1 Debrief and more will be shown on SPEED. Check the Upcoming Events calendar for complete details.

In Practice 2, Kubica went Kablammo in a smokey fireball on his second lap. Other than some animated driver to driver hand waving and a few trips into the runoff areas, however rare they are, it was pretty calm. McLaren and Ferrari seem to be working their way up the charts but the Brawn GP's are still looking good.

PRACTICE 2 RESULTS
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:15.243 45
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:15.445 + 0.202 34
3. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:15.590 + 0.347 40
4. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:15.774 + 0.531 35
5. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:15.832 + 0.589 41
6. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:15.847 + 0.604 33
7. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:15.984 + 0.741 44
8. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:15.985 + 0.742 42
9. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:16.260 + 1.017 42
10. Piquet Renault (B) 1:16.286 + 1.043 42
11. Alonso Renault (B) 1:16.552 + 1.309 38
12. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:16.579 + 1.336 27
13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:16.675 + 1.432 37
14. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:16.915 + 1.672 42
15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:16.983 + 1.740 47
16. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:17.052 + 1.809 47
17. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:17.109 + 1.866 39
18. Glock Toyota (B) 1:17.207 + 1.964 44
19. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:17.504 + 2.261 44
20. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) No time 2

[ÜberDoober]

And the track goes green for Q1. On the first lap Massa's car steps out and he tears off his nose. The Ferrari charm continues.

Weather is partly cloudy but it looks okay and like a nice day. Circuit looks great on tv. McLarens and Renaults were fast in morning warmup.

Coffee pot is gurgling it's last gurgle, heading to the kitchen for a gallon.

[ÜberDoober]

Hamilton loops it into the armco at Mirabeau. Red flag on the session - wow!

Barrichello looks like a man on a mission. He's certainly got something to prove after what happened in Spain. On F1 Debrief, Windsor asked him some rude and leading questions that Ruebens handled well but had it been me, I'd have slugged him.

Track goes back green with 7 minutes left in Q1. Massa back on track.

[ÜberDoober]

Rosberg, Button, Webber, Massa, Barrichello on top. Buemi in 8th!!!

Hamilton, Heidfeld, Kubica, Trulli, Glock are out. Both BMW/Saubers and both Toyota's out. Guess we won't see Trulli on the podium, eh? (although anything can happen at Monaco)

Rosberg came out of nowhere on the last flying lap to surprise everyone.

On to Q2!

[ÜberDoober]

Fast guys! Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Webber, Barrichello. Button in 8th, Alonso in 9th!

Knocked out in Q2 -
Buemi (bummer - I like this kid)
Piquet
Fisichella
Bourdais
Sutil

If Hambone hadn't taken himself out, he'd have been up there. Look at Kovalainen. Surprise by Kimi, for sure!

[ÜberDoober]

Button on Pole!!!

Followed by:
Raikkonen
Barrichello
Vettel

Interesting that Kimi is splitting the Brawn's. Look out for trouble on the first lap. Ruebens will be jonesin to get to Button's diffuser but Raikkonen may spoil the party. Can't wait for the race tomorrow!

When released, we'll have starting weights and more. Stay tuned!

[ÜberDoober]

Weights are out! Vettel is way light

WEIGHT BY GRID ORDER
Pos Driver Weight Weight
1 Jenson Button 647.5
2 Kimi Raikkonen 644
3 Rubens Barrichello 648
4 Sebastian Vettel 631.5
5 Felipe Massa 643.5
6 Nico Rosberg 642
7 Heikki Kovalainen 644
8 Mark Webber 646.5
9 Fernando Alonso 654
10 Kazuki Nakajima 668
11 Sebastien Buemi 670.0*
12 Nelson Piquet 673.1*
13 Giancarlo Fisichella 693.0*
14 Sebastien Bourdais 699.5*
15 Adrian Sutil 670.0*
16 Lewis Hamilton 645.5*
17 Nick Heidfeld 680.0*
18 Robert Kubica 696.0*
19 Jarno Trulli 688.3*
20 Timo Glock 700.8*

WEIGHT - LIGHT TO HEAVY
Pos Driver Weight Weight
4 Sebastian Vettel 631.5
6 Nico Rosberg 642
5 Felipe Massa 643.5
2 Kimi Raikkonen 644
7 Heikki Kovalainen 644
8 Mark Webber 646.5
1 Jenson Button 647.5
3 Rubens Barrichello 648
9 Fernando Alonso 654
10 Kazuki Nakajima 668
16 Lewis Hamilton 645.5*
11 Sebastien Buemi 670.0*
15 Adrian Sutil 670.0*
12 Nelson Piquet 673.1*
17 Nick Heidfeld 680.0*
19 Jarno Trulli 688.3*
13 Giancarlo Fisichella 693.0*
18 Robert Kubica 696.0*
14 Sebastien Bourdais 699.5*
20 Timo Glock 700.8*

[ÜberDoober]

Pre-race is fully in swing and it looks like a beautiful day in Monaco. Home ground Starbucks french roast is brewing in the kitchen and we're just counting down the minutes until showtime!

:goRacing:

[ÜberDoober]

Good clean start! Button, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Vettel. Go Ruebens!

[LittleAlguy]

Hello, hello! I'm actually doing a live blog for this race weekend.

Look at those Brawns fly (again)!

[ÜberDoober]

Thanks for stopping in LittleAlguy! Nice to see you. How about a link?

Vettel holding up the whole field. Uh Oh, now he's dropping like a stone. Rosberg around, Massa round. Vettel into the pits.

Piquet and Buemi off! Hamilton in. OMG! Major action.

[LittleAlguy]

Vettel gets shuffled back.

Hmm, a bit of strategy for Ferrari.

Linky: http://and-that-happened.blogspot.com/2009/05/live-blog-memorial-day-sunday-race-day.html

[ÜberDoober]

On the super softs, Barrichello falling into the clutches of Raikkonen. Check that - Raikkonen pits. Rosberg sets and resets fastest lap.

Raikkonen out in 7th ahead of Alonso.


VETTEL CRASHES OUT!

[LittleAlguy]

I'm a bit surprised it didn't work out that well for Rosberg for his first stop.

Yeah, not good at all.

[ÜberDoober]

Fast lap seems to change with every circuit. Fastest ever lap? Michael Schumacher 1:14:433.

[LittleAlguy]

Hmm, perhaps there is a terminal velocity to Monaco.

[LittleAlguy]

Wow, more laps than Schumi. Then again, with the number of starts he has, it's almost a case of "it's about time". :winky:

[ÜberDoober]

Kovalainen crashes out but no safety car. Raikkonen pits for super softs and comes out behind Barrichello. Hamilton in for a new nose?

[LittleAlguy]

I could use a Steve Matchett to help me stop making wrong guesses on pit stops. :rofl:

[ÜberDoober]

About 10 laps to go and it's looking like another Brawn 1 - 2? I was hoping for Barrichello to be in front but if Button does finish with the win, it just adds to their amazing story. If they had gone with the medals points system, I think this would give Button the championship?

[ÜberDoober]

BUTTON WINS AGAIN!!!

Awesome! Barrichello 2nd, Raikkonen 3rd, Massa 4th, Webber 5th!

[ÜberDoober]

I can't say it was the most exciting race ever on track but as a whole, the continuing dominance of Brawn GP is turning out the be the story of the season, disregarding all the political bullshit, caps and threats, etc.

Button gets a little silly in parc ferme. So, Hobbs is blabbering about the resurgence of Ferrari but I don't think Monaco is the place to be making that assessment. Wait until they do get to Turkey and see how they perform on a real F1 circuit.

At any rate, F1 is great!